Van Ness Feldman LLP

Erin Anderson

Erin Anderson advises clients in permitting, developing, constructing and operating major capital facilities, with a particular focus on energy generation, conversion and transmission facilities. Her goal with every project is to ensure the facility or proposal incorporates thoughtful, innovative and environmentally responsible measures that improve the end product for all interested and affected stakeholders. Erin is a leader in Van Ness Feldman's Energy Transition practice and has significant experience representing independent power producers; fuel processing, handling and transport companies; and regulated utilities in site certification and environmental review under NEPA and SEPA, as well as operational compliance with state and federal natural resource regulations. She regularly represents clients before local boards, commissions and the Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council in project permit proceedings, and has successfully defended projects before the Eastern Washington Growth Management Hearings Board, and in Washington’s Superior Courts, Court of Appeals and the Washington Supreme Court. Erin conducts regulatory, environmental and land use due diligence for purchasers, sellers and lenders in major power and fuel facility transactions. Erin also advises private-sector and municipal interests in the negotiation and drafting of franchise and development agreements for multiple-use developments, water and wastewater treatment facilities. She frequently advises public and private clients on matters of eminent domain, regulatory takings, and alternate procurements for which she negotiates and drafts both traditional and innovative procurement, delivery and service contracts for capital facilities infrastructure development and finance, including various public-private partnership structures.

Patrick Daugherty

Patrick Daugherty is an experienced litigator who has helped clients navigate both simple and complex litigation cases involving a variety of industries across the country. He focuses on all phases of civil and administrative litigation and has counseled companies facing inquiries from a variety of government agencies, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) Office of Enforcement. Patrick has also prepared client witnesses, ranging from front-line employees to CEOs, to give depositions and testimony. Patrick is also well versed in new litigation technology, having managed e-discovery in complex cases and streamlined document review by utilizing predictive coding. Most recently, Patrick has worked with Native American Tribes and with tribal regulators pursuing economic development opportunities on tribal land, including representing a major Native American trade association in filing amicus briefs advocating on behalf of tribal economic development. Patrick also has experience assisting clients with conducting internal investigations and audits, including supporting established power marketers and natural gas traders with internal audits to ensure compliance with FERC rules and regulations, including the prohibition on market manipulation. Patrick also helps smaller companies in drafting and implementing their first FERC compliance programs. Patrick previously served as a prosecutor in the White Collar Fraud unit of the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office, where he successfully tried more than a dozen jury trials. He also prepared successful appellate briefs defending convictions and other trial court decisions. Patrick’s pro bono clients have included a non-profit focused on providing educational opportunities in American Indian communities, foster parents in contested adoption proceedings, and veterans seeking reasonable accommodations for their service animals. At the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, Patrick was a Webster Society Scholar and an associate editor on the Journal of Law and Policy. Patrick has served as a Co-Coordinator of Van Ness Feldman's Litigation and Investigations Practice, as well as the firm's Pro Bono Co-Coordinator.

Stephen Fotis

Stephen Fotis specializes in federal and state environmental regulation. His work focuses on matters relating to the Clean Air Act, global climate change, as well as the Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and other environmental statutes. Stephen provides advice and representation in legislative matters (including legislative drafting), agency rulemakings, appellate litigation, air permitting, environmental regulatory compliance, and advancement of emerging electric generation, and pollution control technologies. He represents electric utilities, independent power producers, automobile manufacturers, petroleum refineries, governmental entities, and labor unions. He also provides counsel to numerous trade associations representing these industries. With respect to the Clean Air Act, Stephen has worked extensively on air policy, regulatory, and transactional matters for over 25 years. He is a leading authority on the regulation of stationary sources under the Clean Air Act, including the New Source Review program. He regularly advises clients on federal policy development through legislation and administrative rulemakings. This work has included the development of major Clean Air Act amendments and national rulemakings for implementing federal air regulatory programs as well as the implementation of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, including the 8-hour ozone standard and the fine particulate matter standard. In addition, Stephen assists clients in the permitting of new facilities, a wide range of transactional matters, compliance assurance of federal and state air requirements, and the resolution of major enforcement actions.

Laura Jones

Laura focuses her practice on federal Indian law, including advising tribes and tribal businesses on economic development, federal regulatory issues, environmental compliance, and federal-tribal consultation, as well as representing tribes on a broad range of civil litigation. Laura has counseled tribal and non-tribal businesses with regulatory and compliance matters, land use issues, and commercial lending transactions. Prior to joining Van Ness Feldman, Laura served as legal counsel for a tribal e-commerce corporation and previously worked at a law firm in Denver, Colorado in their American Indian Law practice. Laura is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. Laura resides in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she enjoys spending time with her husband and son and is an active member of her local community.

Jaeleen Kookesh

Jaeleen is a member of Van Ness Feldman's Native Affairs practice where she represents native communities, their businesses, and their stakeholders and partners on a full range of legislative, regulatory, litigation, and transactional matters. She returns to VNF after serving several roles at Sealaska, the regional Alaska Native Corporation owned by more than 25,000 shareholders consisting primarily of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian people of Southeast Alaska. At Sealaska, Jaleen’s roles included Vice President and General Counsel and Vice President for Policy & Legal Affairs and Corporate Secretary. Jaeleen spends significant time advocating for clients across all of the firm’s practice areas. Clients benefit from her experience at Sealaska where she focused on myriad business areas including Water Resources, Natural Foods, and Lands. In addition to her work as General Counsel and as Sealaska’s Vice President for Policy and Legal Affairs, she worked closely with Tribal Governments, Alaska Native Corporations, Alaska Native organizations, and many other community and business organizations throughout Alaska, including the Alaska Federation of Natives, the ANCSA Regional Association, the Resource Development Council, Southeast Conference, and the Foraker Group.  Jaeleen is well known for her legal and policy work and highly respected amongst her peers throughout Alaska Native Communities and organizations, as well as those in the Lower 48. Jaeleen grew up in Angoon, Alaska, which is located on Admiralty Island south of Juneau.  She carries two clan names from the L’eeneidí (Dog Salmon) Central house in Angoon including Kajoohein and Kinagoo.ut. She is a child of the Teikweidí (Brown Bear) Clan.  Jaeleen is a shareholder of Kootznoowoo, Inc., Angoon's Village Corporation, and she is a shareholder of two Alaska Native Regional Corporations, Sealaska Corporation and Doyon, Limited.  She is also an enrolled member of the Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.

Joshua Krebs

Josh is the head of the firm’s real estate practice, advising clients across all phases of property acquisition, due diligence, development, financing, leasing, and disposition. He represents purchasers, sellers, developers, landlords, tenants, and lenders in a variety of real estate transactions, including negotiating purchase and sale agreements, leases, easements, and other key documents critical to property ownership, development, and use. With a lifetime passion for real estate, Josh provides counsel on diverse projects spanning the energy, infrastructure, industrial, retail, public, and residential sectors. His experience includes energy projects such as solar, wind, hydropower, gas, battery storage, and transmission facilities; infrastructure projects including transit, utility, and port facilities; industrial projects including large distribution centers and warehouses; a wide variety of retail projects ranging from single sites to destination shopping centers; public projects involving housing and other civic facilities; and residential developments ranging from infill projects to master-planned communities.

Jenna Mandell-Rice

Jenna Mandell-Rice counsels private and public clients on natural resources, environmental, and water-related permitting, with a primary focus on energy infrastructure (wind, solar, hydropower and transmission) and water infrastructure projects. She develops comprehensive permitting strategies, counsels clients through the regulatory process from project conception to construction, and defends projects and permits in state and federal court litigation. Her comprehensive water practice includes advising clients on authorizations for in-water work, water quality requirements, and water supply issues, including water rights. Jenna advises across a wide range of federal and state environmental, permitting, and enforcement regimes, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), Clean Water Act (CWA), Endangered Species Act (ESA), Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, and Federal Power Act (FPA). She also assists energy infrastructure developers with state and federal permitting, including FERC hydropower licensing and federal, state and local land-use authorizations. Jenna is a co-leader of Van Ness Feldman's Environmental, Land Use, Natural Resources and Real Estate practice.

Michael Pincus

Michael Pincus advises clients on all aspects of the siting and operation of interstate natural gas pipelines and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). As an attorney at Van Ness Feldman, and previously at FERC, Michael has an in-depth understanding with a wide range of issues under the Natural Gas Act (NGA), including pipeline certificate and abandonment proceedings and LNG terminal and export authorizations. Michael also has experience with natural gas storage facility authorizations, presidential permits, limited jurisdiction certificates, blanket certificates, market-based rate determinations, and rate and tariff issues. Michael counsels clients through every step of FERC's environmental review process for pipeline and LNG projects under the National Environmental Policy Act and with respect to applicable environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act, and National Historic Preservation Act. Michael also is practiced in Part I of the Federal Power Act, advising clients on a variety of hydroelectric licensing and compliance matters, including the license applications, transfers, amendments, surrenders, terminations, as well as preliminary permits. From 2007-2012, Michael worked as an attorney-advisor in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Office of the General Counsel, Energy Project Section. He was also named a “Next Generation Lawyer” by the Legal 500 for oil and gas in both 2017 and 2018. Michael is the co-coordinator of Van Ness Feldman's Oil, Gas, & LNG Practice and serves as one of the firm's Associate Coordinators.

Britt Speyer-Fleming

Britt Speyer Fleming represents automobile manufacturers, specialty vehicle manufacturers, large public power utilities, engine and equipment manufacturers, trade associations, and coalitions before Congress, federal, and state agencies. Her practice focuses on environmental law and regulation, energy policy, and technology development issues affecting these industry sectors. Since joining the firm in 1997, she has advised clients on compliance with and the business implications of various federal and state environmental and energy policy laws, with special emphasis on the Clean Air Act (CAA). With respect to the Clean Air Act, Britt regularly represents clients in the development of mobile and stationary source air regulations and policies and counsels them on related implementation and compliance matters. She counsels clients on compliance with federal and California vehicle emission standards and emission standards for a variety of off-road engines and equipment as well as issues related to enforcement of those standards. In addition, Britt assists clients with permitting both new facilities and modification projects at the state and federal levels. Britt is coordinator of Van Ness Feldman's Environmental practice.

Andrew VanderJack

Andrew provides legal counsel and lobbying services to clients on a wide range matters, including energy and environmental law and policy, the federal government’s regulation of public lands and natural resources, federal grants and appropriations, and American Indian and Alaska Native law and policy. He serves as co-coordinator of Van Ness Feldman's Native Affairs practice. Andrew grew up in Craig, Long Island Logging Camp, Ketchikan, and Juneau, Alaska. Before pursuing a law degree, Andrew worked as staff to the late Senator Ted Stevens. He worked in his home state as a wildland firefighter, a substitute teacher, a deckhand on a purse seiner, and a naturalist and kayak guide. During law school, Andrew held legal internships with the Council on Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency. He has also volunteered for the Takoma Park Volunteer Fire Department, Missionaries of Charity, DC Legal Aid, and the North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management.