Virginia Lawyers Weekly honored Joanne Katsantonis, McGuireWoods’ deputy managing partner for development, among its 2020 list of Go-to Lawyers for Business Law. Honorees are selected for their longstanding track records of notable client successes and innovative legal strategies.
Katsantonis, former leader of the firm’s nationally recognized energy industry team, is a strategic adviser to energy companies, from public utilities and independent power producers to financial investors. She acts as general corporate adviser to energy companies on matters including mergers and acquisitions, corporate structuring, partnership and joint venture issues, governance issues, and compliance and risk management.
She advises on some of the industry’s largest deals, including leading a McGuireWoods team representing longtime client Dominion Energy in its $9.7 billion sale of substantially all of its natural gas transmission and storage business to an affiliate of Berkshire Hathaway. The deal is the largest purchase of U.S. energy assets announced in 2020, and is the biggest acquisition made by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway in more than four years.
Commenting on the deal in Virginia Lawyers Weekly’s Dec. 29, 2020, profile, Katsantonis said, “It was a complex deal that had to be completed quickly, and it all had to come together in the middle of a pandemic.”
The story also noted Katsantonis’ role advising Dominion Energy in its $13.4 billion merger with South Carolina-based SCANA Corp. in 2019, as well as her leadership of a McGuireWoods team that successfully resolved multimillion-dollar civil litigation after a series of natural gas explosions in Massachusetts in 2018.
“It is a privilege to be recognized among this outstanding group of lawyers who advise some of the largest companies in Virginia and across the country,” Katsantonis said.
Among her many recognitions, Katsantonis was named a 2020 Energy MVP by Law360, which also honored her on its Influential Women in Energy list in 2018. Her landmark transactions earned her recognition as a top rainmaker by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association and as an M&A/Antitrust Trailblazer by The National Law Journal.
During her years leading McGuireWoods’ energy industry team, the firm earned numerous honors for energy transactions, regulatory and litigation work. As McGuireWoods’ deputy managing partner for development, she oversees the firm’s industry teams and plays key roles in marketing and business development and implementing the firm’s strategic plan.