David L. Schwartz

David Schwartz is a partner in the Finance Department of Latham & Watkins' Washington, D.C. office. He serves as Global Chair of the Energy Regulatory & Markets Practice, is a member of the Project Finance Practice, and former Co-Chair of the firm’s Global Power Industry Group. He has extensive experience representing entities involved in electric generation, transmission and distribution, electric and gas marketing and trading, and gas transportation and distribution.

Mr. Schwartz has been active in the formation of the developing electricity markets in the United States; led transactional and regulatory teams in mergers and acquisitions and divestitures of energy companies and assets; litigated contract, rate, and transmission access disputes; and drafted federal and state energy legislation. He also has extensive experience in negotiating power purchase and sale agreements, electric transmission agreements, natural gas transportation agreements, energy management agreements, and electric and gas interconnection agreements.

Mr. Schwartz regularly advises clients on energy matters before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), various state public utility commissions, the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Department of Energy (DOE). 

Mr. Schwartz is consistently recognized as a top energy attorney in Corporate Counsel Magazine, Best Lawyers in America, Who's Who Legal: Energy, Chambers USA, Chambers Global, and The Legal 500 US. The Legal 500 US recently selected him into their Hall of Fame for his energy transactional and regulatory work and as a Leading Lawyer for his renewable energy work. In 2021, he was named a M&A Client Service All-Star by BTI Consulting Group based on a survey of US corporate counsel and executives.

Mr. Schwartz is a member of the American Bar Association and has held leadership positions in the Energy Bar Association.

Recent publications of Mr. Schwartz include:

• Co-author, “What FERC Can – And Cannot – Do Without A Quorum,” Law360 (February 2017)
• Editor and Author of Preface, “The Energy and Markets Review,” Law Business Research Ltd. (Annual Publication 2012 – 2016)

• Co-author, “The Energy and Markets Review – USA,” Law Business Research Ltd. (Annual Publication 2012 – 2016)

• Co-author, "Independent Transmission in the United States," Project Finance International (March 2003)

• Co-author, “Real Promise or False Hope: DOE’s Title XVII Loan Guarantee,” The Electricity Journal (May 2009)