McGuireWoods partner Joseph K. Reid III, a veteran trial lawyer and chair of the firm’s Regulatory and Compliance Department, is featured by the National Law Journal in its Regulatory & Compliance Trailblazers issue published today. The publication recognizes top legal professionals who have distinguished themselves in the regulatory arena.
Reid has had extensive involvement with the re-regulation of Virginia’s electric utilities and associated ratemaking proceedings, and has secured approvals for the development, construction, financing and operation of new electric generating facilities. He also has a long history of defending defective product, environmental contamination, nuisance and commercial claims.
Reid was recognized for his work representing Dominion Virginia Power, the state’s largest electric utility, in significant cases before the State Corporation Commission and the Virginia Supreme Court. These included landmark cases initiated after passage of a 2007 law that re-regulated Virginia’s electric utilities and brought heightened scrutiny of ratemaking proceedings before the SCC.
Reid represented Dominion in 2009 when the SCC conducted its first rate review under the new regulatory regime. Reid led a large team of lawyers and witnesses against a potential $300 million rate cut and helped secure an outcome that maintained stable rates for consumers while providing fair returns for investors and allowing for development of new sources of reliable power.
Reid served as lead counsel in two additional rate cases that resulted in stable rates, including one that reached the Virginia Supreme Court. He also represented Dominion in certification cases that allowed the company to construct one of the last coal-fired plants built in the United States as well as three gas-fired plants that are among the most cost-effective, best-in-class units in the country.
In addition to leading the Regulatory and Compliance Department, Reid is the hiring partner for McGuireWoods’ Richmond office. He earned his bachelor’s, master’s and law degrees from the University of Virginia.