Mr. Howes’ practice focuses on supply chain management issues; energy, including coal and oil and gas projects, and power plant construction projects; mergers and acquisitions; international transactions; corporate governance issues, including ethics and compliance programs; and pipeline safety regulations, programs, and enforcement issues.

His supply chain practice has included numerous IT-related acquisitions, including Oracle and SAP installations, remote help desk agreements, software licensing issues, and software development agreements. He currently represents a U.S. company that is developing a remote sensing technology to detect corrosion on buried pipe, a major issue for the natural gas industry; and a Belgian company in its negotiations with the University of Pennsylvania Health System for the purchase and sale of proton therapy cancer treatment equipment and software and a related service agreement.

As part of his energy practice, he has represented a consortium promoting the use of natural gas-fueled vehicles, and has represented clients in the purchase of advanced coal co-firing and fluidized bed technology and selective catalytic reduction. He is a team leader for the Afghanistan Transitional Commercial Law Project, a rule of law project providing counsel and assistance to the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in developing a comprehensive set of commercial laws for Afghanistan, including banking, investment, property, arbitration, environmental, natural resources and transactional laws. He has also conducted Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations in South America; negotiated energy transactions in South and Central America, Australia and Asia; and handled numerous supply chain related transactions in Asia, Europe and South America.

Mr. Howes also is an arbitrator for the National Association of Securities Dealers and the American Arbitration Association, where he serves on the Commercial, Energy and International Arbitrator Panels.