Latham Named Energy Practice Group of the Year
Law360 has recognized the firm’s Energy Practice as a 2018 Energy Practice Group of the Year in its annual awards program that honors law firms “behind the litigation wins and major deals that resonated throughout the legal industry in the past year.”
In a profile story, Law360 details the firm’s work noting big wins in closely watched cases, as well as work to secure more than US$800 billion in project financings, mergers and other transactions across the industry spectrum in 2018.
The firm’s representation of CONSOL and CNX Gas in a suit against Noble Energy Inc. was lauded in particular for preserving the client’s bargained-for preferential purchase rights in an attempted US$765 million sale of a joint venture, a win CONSOL’s CEO called “the top victory in the history of the company.”
The firm also represented Energy Transfer Equity LP in its nearly US$60 billion acquisition of Energy Transfer Partners in a unit-for-unit exchange, as well as advising Fermaca Pipeline El Encino S. de R.L. de C.V. in an US$814.8 million refinancing of a gas pipeline in Chihuahua and Durango, Mexico. That project represented a crucial part of Mexico’s energy infrastructure, and was the first side-by-side bank-and-bond project financing in Mexico involving a pure private placement of the notes.
In addition, Law360 recognized the “standout achievement” of Latham’s representation of Avangrid in several matters pertaining to a whitepaper by the Environmental Defense Fund. The paper led to two different antitrust suits and an inquiry by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), however the Latham team successfully had one suit dismissed and is currently seeking dismissal of another, and FERC announced that its staff found no wrongdoing and was closing the inquiry.
According to Law360’s coverage, David Penna, Global Co-Chair of the Project Development & Finance Practice, noted that “the firm has a global culture of attorneys working together to share their expertise, creating a one-stop shop for energy clients in all their legal affairs.”
He added, “’The practices bolster each other, and they make everything stronger.…Our clients are more and more looking for a firm that can really handle everything, because if you don't have expertise it's hard to help clients see around corners.’"