Saturday, July 18, 2009

The Evolution of an "Energy Law" Practice: One Denver Practitioner's Story

The practice of energy law is evolving to be sure. Thus, while energy law may have been historically associated with a practitioner working only on gas, utilities, mining or some combination of these issues, the picture has begun to change significantly.

One attorney whose practice reflects the change is Jeffrey G. Pearson, a solo practitioner in Denver and an alum of the DU College of Law. Ann Vessels, the director of the law school internship program, and I met recently with Mr. Pearson to talk about what the evolving practice of energy law looks like.

In a word, Mr. Pearson's work is "varied." He represents some gas firms. And he does his share of regulatory work on behalf of clients. But he's also representing independent power generators as well as entrepreneurs who are trying to capitalize on the "new energy economy."

An example of one of his most interesting clients is a firm called Ice Energy. With its corporate headquarters about 40 miles north of Denver in Windsor, Ice Energy has pioneered the "Ice Bear energy storage module" that works with a standard commercial air conditioner. The Ice Bear "delivers the industry's first hybrid cooling solution specifically developed to reduce air conditioning energy demand for small to mid-sized commercial businesses," according to the company. To watch a video about this new technology, click here.

In effect, as Mr. Pearson points out, entirely new businesses are being formed based on technologies that take advantage of the new energy realities that we face. And lawyers will play major roles in helping these businesses form, develop, and take their products and services to market.

Practicing energy law means many things to many people. But how energy will be generated in the future -- bearing in mind that the U.S. is on the verge of putting a national price on carbon emissions and the European Union already has -- will include an array of current technologies as supplemented with many new technologies.

Clever firms and businesses will profit from what is being called "the new energy economy." Just ask Jeff Pearson. He is representing some of them.

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