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Energy and Environmental Litigation

We help energy clients with a wide range of business disputes and in litigation including:

  • Construction
  • Eminent domain
  • Employment
  • Environmental
  • General commercial
  • Patent and intellectual property
  • Product liability
  • Tort litigation
  • Certificates of need
  • Rate cases

Our experience includes litigating energy matters in federal and state courts and regulatory agencies nationwide, including matters involving biofuels, fossil fuels, geothermal, natural gas, nuclear, solar and wind. We bring our deep understanding and experience working with public utilities, government agencies and independent energy companies to every representation to help clients develop, implement and manage effective legal and risk avoidance strategies.


Our experience includes representing: 

  • An energy finance company in $100 million commercial arbitrations involving the design and engineering of geothermal power plants
  • A natural gas pipeline company in major litigation, later favorably settled, after prevailing before court of appeals regarding ownership rights to drip liquids and condensate
  • A natural gas pipeline company in litigation later favorably settled, against an excavation firm for damages arising from a substantial environmental spill
  • An energy company client involving a Turnkey EPC Agreement for a 50-megawatt combined-cycle, natural gas-fired cogeneration power facility
  • An energy client in multimillion-dollar litigation involving financing and construction issues for an 830-megawatt natural gas-fired combined cycle electric generation plant
  • A natural gas public utility in an eminent domain proceeding in which FERC authorized the expansion of the client’s natural gas storage facilities to include over 9,000 additional acres
  • An energy finance company in litigation resulting in multimillion-dollar judgment after trial against defendants who wrongfully distributed company information and financial data
  • A wind farm maintenance firm in litigation, later favorably settled, in defense of a negligence action concerning the collapse of a wind turbine
  • A municipality in defense of its green energy building code against a federal preemption challenge in a first-of-its-kind case
  • An ethanol supplier in dispute with its short-line railroad regarding corn transportation terms
  • A leading ethanol producer in a highly contested tax dispute before state tax commissioners resulting in substantial tax refund for the ethanol firm
  • A debt and private equity firm in litigation, later successfully settled, with a large ethanol producer regarding fees for locating sources of capital for an ethanol project
  • A LLC member in breach of fiduciary litigation, favorably resolved, relating to merger involving a large ethanol industry participant
  • Contested case proceedings involving authorizations to construct a 600 MW ($2 billion) coal-fired facility in three states
  • An ethanol producer in two week trial involving $23 million claim arising from forward corn contracts (settled favorably before submission to the jury)
  • An ethanol producer in a lawsuit involving trade secrets and a covenant not to compete (settled after temporary injunction hearing with ethanol producer paying nothing)
  • An ethanol supplier, securing final summary judgment on liability for breach of contract, relating to failed delivery of ethanol solubles