Practice Areas & Industries: Duane Morris LLP

Practice Group Overview

For both producers and policy-makers, as well as industry participants and consumers, Duane Morris helps clients manage the dynamic challenges of the energy market. We advise and counsel our clients on regulations, transactions, litigation, project development, financing, government relations and policy matters concerning energy. Our attorneys draw upon their legal acumen and industry experience to find creative solutions to meet our clients' needs domestically and internationally.

Services Available

Electricity

Duane Morris attorneys advise clients on the legal and business issues surrounding electricity generation, distribution, policy, regulation, sale and consumption.

Our experience includes representation of producers, regulatory agencies, independent system operators and publicly owned utility companies. We routinely represent electric utilities and their operating subsidiaries in regulatory proceedings before FERC and the Federal Court of Appeals.

Duane Morris attorneys gained their industry experience by serving as members of governmental regulatory agencies and from working within the energy industry. One of our attorneys, for example, helped establish the FERC Office of Enforcement and was its first director. Furthermore, Duane Morris was closely involved in the creation of the first Regional Transmission Organization approved by FERC, and has served as its counsel in a multitude of issues before FERC and the appellate courts. We also assist federal and state regulators and agencies in the formation and implementation of regulations and policymaking. The firm represents developers, investors and sovereign nations in complex energy projects throughout the world, including Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and Africa.

Natural Gas and LNG

Duane Morris attorneys understand the challenges of producing, transporting and providing natural gas to businesses and consumers in the United States and around the world. Duane Morris provides strategic legal and business counsel to the entire spectrum of participants in the natural gas business cycle. We assist clients with exploration and production services, project development, finance, taxation, merger and acquisition, and transactional and litigation services for complex natural gas and LNG projects.

As the country's dependence on imported natural gas continues to increase dramatically, the need for additional importation presents a host of regulatory and business problems, especially logistical. Duane Morris attorneys have been actively involved in FERC, Department of Energy and Department of Transportation proceedings, and state and local regulatory agency actions concerning the importation and transportation of LNG.

Duane Morris lawyers also represent developers, investors and sovereign nations in the international arena, assisting with complex natural gas and LNG projects around the world.

Oil

Duane Morris has long served clients in addressing the many legal problems they face in the oil industry. Our attorneys draw upon a combination of legal and industry experience to represent clients in regulatory proceedings before state and federal agencies and international forums. With the resources of a full-service firm, our Energy Practice can help clients in a variety of corporate acquisitions, including the purchase and sale of producing properties, pipelines and other significant assets, as well as due diligence, bids and related financing issues. Throughout the entire business cycle, Duane Morris attorneys have extensive experience in assisting clients in matters concerning oil exploration, distribution, refining, import/export, financing and related transactions.

Our practice is both national and international in scope. Duane Morris energy attorneys have assisted clients in the drafting and negotiation of study, bidding and operating groups, and other forms of association for the conduct of international oil and gas operations. Our energy attorneys also represent clients before foreign governmental entities with the bidding, negotiation and performance of exploration and production contracts.

Nuclear

Duane Morris lawyers' experience ranges from the boardroom to the control room, from the nuclear island to the turbine floor. Our lawyers advise clients on the legal and business issues regarding the construction of electric generation facilities, and the regulation of distribution, sale and consumption. Our experience includes work for producers, regulatory agencies, independent system operators and publicly owned utility companies. We represent electric utilities and their operating subsidiaries in regulatory proceedings before FERC, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Courts of Appeal.

Our firm has a strong technological foundation, boasting attorneys with engineering degrees, including experienced nuclear engineers, and others who have worked directly in nuclear plants in a variety of technical, supervisory and managerial roles.

Renewable Energy & Sustainability

Worldwide demand for energy continues to increase dramatically, even as traditional sources of energy are diminishing. Concurrently, global, national and state level concerns with climate change have raised the level of interest in reducing carbon emissions and reliance on fossil fuels. To meet these emerging challenges, governments, businesses and consumers are joining the movement to develop energy from renewable sources and to conserve energy where possible. Technological advances, legislative requirements and incentives, and consumer demand have made renewable energy development possible, but innovative legal thinking is needed to make sustainable or renewable energy a reality.

Duane Morris attorneys are deeply involved in and committed to the renewable energy and conservation markets. From emerging businesses with innovative energy solutions to traditional energy companies seeking to develop new green and renewable energy sources, and from national and international government agencies to entrepreneurial individuals, Duane Morris serves a diverse constituency in the global energy economy.

Energy Facility Construction

The financing, planning and construction of any major infrastructure project is always highly scrutinized, multistaged and multifaceted. When a project's aim is to create a new facility to generate power, the scrutiny, complexity and potential for challenges increase exponentially.

Whether in the early planning stages of a new energy plant or overseeing the construction of a facility that is beginning to take shape, having informed, savvy and experienced legal counsel is vital.

Duane Morris lawyers understand that undertaking projects of this magnitude requires big picture thinking partnered with dexterous handling and execution of finely-drawn details. In working with clients regarding issues involving nuclear power, oil, gas, coal, biomass, wind or water, our lawyers bring skills from a broad range of disciplines to advise our clients throughout the many stages of energy facility construction projects.

For More Information

For more information, please contact Stephen L. Teichler or any of the practice members referenced in the Attorney Listing.