Excelling in FERC and appellate matters, McDermott Will & Schulte is a strong choice of counsel for independent power producers and competitive power companies. Its recent track record has covered defense of market-based rate authority and settled auction results, precedent-setting appellate wins, and litigation regarding market reforms. The team is also well equipped to handle energy regulatory litigation, investigations, and audits by federal and state bodies, as well as support on energy deals. Jointly leading the practice are Neil Levy, a reference in the market for independent power producers; and David Tewksbury, who assists with regulatory matters under various bodies’ rules, as well as supporting transactions of all kinds in the electric power sphere. Energy industry specialist Stephanie Lim is recognized for her knowledge of buyer-side market power mitigation rules, and Alex Spisak assists with investigations. All named lawyers are based in Washington DC.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Accolades
Client satisfaction: Lawyer & team quality
Client satisfaction: Billing & efficiency
Client satisfaction: Sector knowledge
Client satisfaction: NPS ®
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'The McDermott team has a tremendous depth of experience across the scope of issues impacting our organization and members. The ability to engage deeply on specific issues impacting wholesale markets and issues before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is vitally important.'
- 'Neil Levy, David Tewksbury, and Stephanie Lim are very attentive, knowledgeable, and accessible in a timely manner on the entire range of issues in their areas of expertise.'
- 'The practice is very good at knowing the company and providing practical advice. They have very good experience in the industry and know a lot of the players.'
- 'We work with David Tewksbury a lot. He has a great relationship with the in-house counsel and is also good about spending time with in-house counsel on their issues and talks through all the options.'
- 'McDermott's energy regulatory team is extremely knowledgeable about issues impacting the electric power industry and are skilled at applying those issues to our company's business.'
- 'They are our go-to law firm for regulatory monitoring, filing, and compliance matters to ensure our company remains compliant with ISOs/RTO directives and federal agencies regulating electric power markets such as the FERC and the DOE.'
Key clients
- Advanced Power and certain of its subsidiaries
- AES Integrated Energy, LLC
- Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (“Algonquin Power”)
- Alpha Generation LLC and certain of its subsidiaries
- AltaGas Services (U.S.) Inc. (“AltaGas”)
- Apex Clean Energy, Inc.
- Argo Infrastructure Partners
- BlueWave Energy
- Calpine Corporation (“Calpine”) and certain of its subsidiaries
- Clearlight Energy (“Clearlight”)
- Clearway Energy Group LLC (“Clearway Group”) and certain of its subsidiaries
- Clearway Energy, Inc. (“Clearway Energy”) and certain of its subsidiaries
Work highlights
Advised EPSA, LS Power, and NRG in challenging PJM’s post-auction rule changes and related complaints before FERC and the federal appellate courts.
Advised Advanced Power, Calpine, Clearlight, CPV, EPSA, GenOn, Heritage, Hull Street, Indeck, J-POWER, LS Power, MRP, NRG, Omnis, REV, SVP, and Talen’s affiliates in numerous FERC proceedings to obtain, defend, modify, or transfer reactive power service revenue requirements.
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Practice head
Neil Levy; David Tewksbury
Other key lawyers
Stephanie Lim; Alex Spisak