Troutman Sanders LLP

Troutman Sanders is a global market leader in providing comprehensive legal advice to developers, utilities, independent power producers, and financial, industrial and government clients engaged in energy-related businesses in the United States and throughout the world. Our attorneys have transactional, financing and regulatory experience in the electric power, natural gas and water and industries, including the renewable and alternative energy sector.

Troutman Sanders' Renewable Energy Practice brings together experienced lawyers from various practices of the firm to provide advice and creative solutions to the needs of clients in this fast-growing segment of the energy industry. Our multidisciplinary team draws its members from practice groups with expertise in energy, project finance, tax, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, lending and structured finance, securities and capital markets, legislative affairs and intellectual property. This group also relies upon the resources of the firm’s real estate, environmental, litigation and other practices as necessary. Our full service capability allows us to offer clients a fully integrated team with the optimum balance of breadth and specialization in all relevant areas.

Our track record for providing innovative development and finance solutions is rooted in our longstanding counsel–going back to the 1920s–to key participants in the electric power industry. Out of this practice Troutman Sanders became actively involved in the growth of the independent power industry in the early 1980s. Building on these early experiences, we have developed a dynamic, worldwide energy project development and finance practice, guiding some of the most influential developers, equity investors, lenders and utilities in the electric power industry. We bring this same high-caliber leadership to the renewable and alternative energy sector.

Our Clients

Our clients span the full range of participants in the electric power industry and include utilities, commercial banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions as lenders and tax equity providers, project developers and operators, and equipment manufacturers.

Our Services

Project Development. All facets of site acquisition and control (including land easements and ground leases), land use, permitting and environmental compliance, engineering, procurement and construction contracts, power purchase agreements, interconnection and transmission agreements, equipment purchase and warranty agreements, and operation and maintenance agreements.

Finance and Tax Equity. All types of debt and equity finance, including early stage capital, construction and term lending, tax equity partnerships, sale-leasebacks, turbine financing, front and back leveraging and other financing structures.

Energy Regulatory. The premier energy regulatory practice in the country will guide your company and transaction through compliance with energy regulation at the federal (FERC) and state levels.

Capital Markets and Corporate Transactions. Purchase and sale of energy companies and projects and asset portfolios, domestic and international joint ventures, venture capital, municipal and other tax-exempt bond financings, private placements of debt and equity, carbon trading.

Energy Lobbying and Government Assistance. Advocacy assistance before Congress and the Administration, including the Department of Energy, Department of Treasury, the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of the Interior and the White House, regarding energy legislation and funding opportunities, including assistance securing DOE loan guarantees and grants.

Troutman Sanders represents clients from the early, strategic stages of investment and tax structuring to the development, construction, operation and financing of renewable and alternative energy projects worldwide. Our lawyers have experience with solar, wind, geothermal, ocean, river and hydropower projects, as well as alternative “clean coal,” ethanol, biodiesel/biogas, and biomass-related transactions, including waste-to-energy.

Our tax and corporate lawyers have helped our clients develop and implement transaction structures designed to maximize federal and state tax credits, renewable energy certificates (RECs) and other environmental attributes associated with renewable energy projects.

In addition, Troutman Sanders’ attorneys are global market leaders in the carbon trading business and the underlying markets and regulations, including the purchase, sale, and trading of emission allowances and related commodities and products.

Finally, where necessary or appropriate, Troutman Sanders advocates on behalf of clients before Congress and the Administration to support important legislation or to secure financial assistance or other support for renewable or alternative energy projects.

Troutman Sanders embraces diversity as a cornerstone of our future. It means, in part, a commitment by all of our attorneys and all other personnel to a shared vision and the establishment of a workplace environment that is fully inclusive. The Firm values diversity in that it enables the Firm both to take full advantage of the knowledge and talents of a multicultural team in order to meet and exceed individual and business goals and client expectations, and to meet the Firm’s obligation to provide the broadest possible range of opportunities to the members of the communities served by the Firm.

Troutman Sanders defines diversity as an environment of inclusion, in which race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, disability, background and social and ethnic group differences are accepted and valued, and all members of the Firm can contribute to their fullest potential to achieve the Firm’s business goals.

Troutman Sanders supports many initiatives that foster an inclusive environment and help all its personnel balance commitments to clients and family:

Domestic Partnership Benefits

Troutman Sanders offers domestic partnership insurance benefits and has a longstanding policy against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Women’s Forum

The Troutman Sanders Women’s Forum is a framework to increase the visibility of our women lawyers and their accomplishments, provide expanded professional and business development opportunities, and provide a supportive environment for the continued recruitment, promotion and retention of women lawyers firm-wide.

Moms' Group

The Moms' Group at Troutman Sanders includes both full and part-time women lawyers with children of all ages and provides the opportunity to discuss issues of common concern among a support network such as part-time employment options with the firm and child-care providers.

Charitable Giving

The firm allocates a significant amount of its annual charitable, diversity, and civic contributions budget toward nonprofit organizations and bar associations with a diverse constituency or whose mission directly influences the issue of diversity.  These organizations include the Latin American Association, National Association of Chinese Americans, Stonewall Bar Association , Georgia Hispanic Chamber,  National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL), Equality Virginia,  Stakeholders, Inc., Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), YWCA, HRNEW, The Urban League, and Catalyst, Inc.

Recruiting

Troutman Sanders proactively recruits a diverse team of lawyers by visiting law school campuses and participating in minority job fairs, including the Lavender Law Job Fair, Southeast Minority Job Fair, Mid-Atlantic BLSA Minority Job Fair and Virginia Bar Association Minority Job Fair.  The firm also sponsors a variety of associations that connect minority law students to internships and job opportunities in the legal industry. 

Ongoing efforts to promote and foster an inclusive environment are lead by the Troutman Sanders Diversity Committee. Its primary goals are to implement the firm’s philosophy on diversity, ensure a welcoming workplace for all personnel, and make an impact on the community through charitable giving and pro bono service.

Members of the Diversity Committee are:

Sallie A. Daniel, Chief Diversity Officer
Ronald R. Ross, Chairperson **
Pamela S. Belleman ** 
Robert L. Bourguignon **
Julie L. Burgener **
Albert C. Hwang **
Molly F. James **
Jennifer Mathis **
Joseph M. Parker **
John M. Ramirez **
E. Fitzgerald Veira **
Sonia K. Bain
Sandra L. Brown
Michael D. Hobbs, Jr.
Roscoe C. Howard, Jr.
Prashant K. Khetan
M. Kevin McCusty
George L. Scruggs
Rebecca W. Shanlever
Wendelin W. Silliman
Anthony F. Troy
Jerome Walker
Farah S. Ahmed * 
Meredith N. Baron *
George G. Booker *
Alonso J. Cisneros *
Tameka M. Collier *
Sara H. Doran *
Kaleen Serena Ford *
Becki F. Kieffer *
Adam S. Libove *
Christina M. Lucio *
Nora Garcia Nickel *
Tashwanda C. Pinchback *
S. Kaveh E. Rashidi-Yazd *
Jimmy R. Rock *
Tania S. Sebastian *
Ashante Latanya Smith *
Matt J. Sperling *
Juliet G. Sy * 
Whitney S. Waldenberg *

* Elected by Associates
** Office Committee Chair