The following is an excerpt from Practice Perspectives: Vault's Guide to Legal Practice Areas.
Henry Jin focuses his practice on project finance and development with an emphasis on renewable technologies. He has advised a mix of project developers, financial institutions, and development banks in connection with a wide variety of transactions, including complex project financings and asset acquisitions and divestitures. Henry has previously served as senior counsel for a renewable energy company where he was the primary legal advisor in connection with the development of solar, energy storage, and electric vehicle solutions.
Describe your practice area and what it entails.
We have a leading clean tech/renewable energy practice with extensive experience advising on matters involving the financing, development, acquisition, and divestiture of renewable energy and clean power projects and portfolios, including wind, solar (both residential and utility-scale), geothermal, energy storage, green and blue hydrogen, carbon capture and sequestration, and microgrids and other technologies.
We also have a robust tax credit monetization practice, which is widely recognized in the market and has continued to close a high volume of transactions.
What types of clients do you represent?
We primarily represent major financial institutions investing into and lending for wind, solar, and other clean power projects, including Bank of America, GE-Energy Financial Services, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Wells Fargo.
In addition, we represent top-tier project developers, utilities, and sponsors, including American Electric Power and DTE Power & Industrial, as well as strategic investors and power end users.
What types of cases/deals do you work on?
The bulk of our transactions involves the financing, acquisition, and development of large-scale renewable energy projects across the United States and Latin America, whether as a single project or a portfolio of projects.
How did you choose this practice area?
I’ve always wanted to work in the energy space because it’s an area that is constantly evolving and keeps me intellectually engaged. Hunton Andrews Kurth has a long-standing history in project development and energy finance and strong relationships with energy market players.
What is a “typical” day like and/or what are some common tasks you perform?
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.
What training, classes, experience, or skills development would you recommend to someone who wishes to enter your practice area?
A number of our transactions are secured by interests in collateral or involve similar protective structures, so having some coursework in secured transactions would be positive.
What do you like best about your practice area?
In addition to knowing that my work directly contributes to the energy transition, I thoroughly enjoy having frequent exposure to and opportunities to develop an understanding of multiple legal disciplines, including tax, real estate, environmental, regulatory, technology, and finance.
What is unique about your practice area at your firm?
Hunton Andrews Kurth has a strong and extensive range of attorneys with experience in different areas within clean energy/renewable energy, such as financing, tax, environmental and land use, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and energy regulations, project development, and real estate, which allows us to provide seamless representation over the life of an energy asset.
What are some typical tasks that a junior lawyer would perform in this practice area?
A junior lawyer’s role is very critical to every deal—the junior lawyer is responsible for assisting the team in managing the transaction, including drafting transaction documents and closing deliverables, tracking multiple drafts of documents, and coordinating and liaising with the clients and counterparties in bringing the deal to a successful closing.
The Clean Technology/Renewable Energy practice includes everything from M&A to financing and tax. How do you think this multifaceted practice has helped you grow as a lawyer?
The multiple aspects of our renewable energy practice have helped me develop into a more well-rounded lawyer as I’ve had to acquire and develop legal knowledge in a wide variety of practice areas in order to better serve the firm’s clients.