Lawdragon Names Six McGuireWoods Partners “Leading Environmental & Energy Lawyers”

April 2, 2021

McGuireWoods partners Gregory Evans, Aaron Flynn, Makram Jaber, Vishwa Link, Todd Mullins and Allison Wood were recognized in the inaugural Lawdragon 500 Leading Environmental & Energy Lawyers, a guide to U.S. lawyers who are shaping the future of environmental and energy law.

Evans is a litigator with more than 25 years of experience in courtrooms across the United States and an exemplary record of success in difficult, novel and important cases. His accomplishments include serving as first-chair trial counsel in Asarco v. Atlantic Richfield Company, in which he won a $30 million judgment in favor of copper mining giant Asarco to help remediate groundwater pollution at a Superfund site in Montana. Law360 named him an “MVP” for environmental litigation and The National Law Journal has named him an Energy & Environmental Trailblazer.

Flynn represents utilities, national trade associations, oil and gas companies, and manufacturers on major environmental litigation and regulatory matters. He has resolved complex regulatory issues before the EPA, at the White House, and through his extensive litigation experience across the country. His practice focuses on reducing and managing clients’ regulatory burdens and liabilities under federal environmental statutes, particularly the Clean Air Act.

Jaber, a former professional engineer with more than 20 years of legal experience, partners with clients to obtain and defend permits, defend enforcement actions, and represent their interests in federal rulemaking proceedings and related Court of Appeals litigation. While involved in matters that run the gamut of Clean Air Act programs, he has particularly deep experience with EPA’s New Source Review program and regulation of hazardous air pollutants.

Link, chair of McGuireWoods’ Regulatory & Compliance Department, focuses on administrative litigation before state public utility commissions. She represents electric and gas utility clients in rate, energy conservation and integrated planning proceedings, and helps electric utility clients secure permits for generating plants and transmission lines before state regulatory agencies.

Mullins, managing partner of McGuireWoods’ Washington office and leader of its energy enforcement practice, has more than 30 years of experience in litigation and enforcement of energy matters. He represents energy clients in private litigation and on enforcement and compliance matters involving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation.

Wood is nationally recognized as a leader in environmental law, particularly in the area of climate change, where she has guided clients through politically charged, precedent-setting cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and several Courts of Appeals. She has represented clients before the Supreme Court in all three landmark cases involving climate change.

“I am delighted to congratulate my colleagues on this well-deserved recognition,” said David Franchina, head of McGuireWoods’ environmental practice. “All of them have a strong legacy of excellence, and their inclusion in this guide is a wonderful acknowledgment of the work our team has done to help clients address their environmental and energy challenges quickly and effectively.”

McGuireWoods’ environmental lawyers are experienced in all fundamental matters relating to environmental law — permitting, enforcement defense, rulemaking, legislation, project development and crisis management — and act as agency liaison at the federal, state and local levels. The group includes former governmental regulators and lawyers with technical backgrounds in engineering and the natural sciences who work with clients to focus on cost-effective ways to solve problems.

The firm’s  lawyers and consultants represent clients across the entire energy spectrum, including utilities, conventional oil and gas investors and operators, leading sponsors and developers of solar, wind and thermal generation and financial institutions. The firm was named a finalist for best energy practice in The American Lawyer’s inaugural Corporate Departments of the Year awards.