Day in the Life: Insights from Attorneys in Clean Tech & Renewable Energy

In Vault's Practice Area Resource Centers, among other things, we highlight Q&As from various attorneys employed at law firms who have ranked for prestige in the relevant practice area. In this series, we will highlight some answers from attorneys at ranked firms regarding what their typical day is like working in a given practice area. Today, we feature some answers from our Clean Tech & Renewable Energy Practice Area Resource Center.

Henry Jin, Partner, Hunton: “As energy transactional attorneys, our typical day involves the following tasks:

• Drafting and negotiating key transaction documents and ancillary materials.
• Resolving complex questions and issues for clients in collaboration with other key stakeholders.
• Reviewing project documents to ensure bankability.
• Managing other subject matter experts and local counsel to ensure that the client receives coordinated guidance.”

Roland Estevez & Carolina Walther-Meade, Partners, Milbank:

“Carolina: Every day is different! Most days include a negotiation with anywhere from 5 to 30-plus people, whether with a group of clients (either developers, financial sponsors, or strategic partners, or diverse financing providers), opposing counsel, or local counsel. I also spend time strategizing with my team on deal management and training. Often, our teams are made up of Milbank attorneys across our London, Asia, and São Paulo offices, which adds to the international element of my work. My days are also spent reviewing documents prepared by associates, and we discuss my revisions and their rationale to collectively ensure that the documentation achieves what our client wants and that our deal team understands the reasoning behind it.

Roland: My work day depends largely on the stage of the transactions I am working on. One day, I could be advising a developer on the construction risks associated with an industrial-scale water desalinization plant in Latin America or advising a tech company on its investment in or power procurement arrangements from a nuclear energy developer. By its nature, this practice is dynamic and requires one to remain intellectually curious and on top of the latest sector trends. It is not at all unusual to find myself in Santiago, Chile, Rio de Janeiro, or London negotiating a transaction, restructuring an existing deal, or speaking at an energy or digital infrastructure conference—sometimes in the same week!”

Lana Le Hir, Partner, Orrick: “A typical day might start with a client call to advise on an agreement from the counter party with redline changes and help the client understand the implications of the risks involved. I help to find creative solutions that fulfil the client’s concerns while also appeasing the counterparty. After the call, I either draft the revisions that we discussed myself or work with an associate to draft new language. Next, I might have a few other negotiations with anywhere from 5 to 20 people via Teams, where I lead the negotiations of an agreement along with my commercial counterparts and associates. Between calls, I collaborate with associates to review their revisions and get the agreements ready to send to the counterparty. I usually have one or two internal calls each day to discuss internal team support or business development opportunities or to pitch to potential new clients.”

Connie Gao, Associate, Norton Rose Fulbright: “There are a ton of stakeholders and third parties involved in every project finance transaction. In addition to negotiating and drafting the main transaction documents, a big part of my job as the deal lawyer is closing out a variety of open issues arising from different areas of law. Having a working knowledge of critical project finance issues related to real estate, energy regulatory, or environmental and permitting law allows me to more efficiently address problems or devise potential solutions. Clients are looking to us to close the deal as much as they are for legal advice. In the process, I get to learn something new every day in areas outside of my expertise and ultimately give better advice to my clients.”

Christopher Hutchison, Partner & Chris Folmsbee, Counsel, Sidley:

“Chris H: Most days are a mix of calls or meetings with clients or with counterparties’ counsel to address active deal issues, while spending a substantial amount of time on reviewing and marking up documents—all while coordinating with our specialist teams and others involved in the transaction. Renewable energy transactions and projects work are a team sport; our role is typically to act as a quarterback across all aspects of the deal, such as ensuring we have the right team engaged on the deal, whether working with other colleagues in tax, real estate, environmental, or other disciplines.

Chris F: Days vary tremendously but generally involve calls with clients to discuss the issues of the day for current matters, or calls with opposing counsel to negotiate my clients’ positions. We review revised drafts of documents from opposing counsel and provide markups of drafts to be sent back. I also help coordinate my matters among the various Sidley lawyers, local counsel, and other advisers who may be involved, as well as engage in business development activities, recruiting, and training.”

Taylor Pullins, Partner, White & Case: “A typical day involves work on a variety of matters across geographies. It is common that I wake up to questions and requests in my inbox relating to projects in the Middle East or Europe. After addressing those matters early in the day, I typically focus on domestic client work. The type of work ranges from (i) providing environmental specialist support on transactions, project development work, or financings; (ii) advising clients on climate strategy or environmental compliance matters; and (iii) leading negotiations on carbon offset transactions.”