In response to increasing client demand for dedicated legal services in the area of new infrastructure development, national law firm Akerman has launched three new teams under the umbrella of its Energy and Infrastructure Sector Team, capitalizing on its long-standing experience and resources in energy, renewable energy, and infrastructure development and financing. The following multidisciplinary teams build upon the existing capabilities of Akerman's Data Centers and Digital Infrastructure Practice and Renewable Energy and Electric Power Practice to support clients' multifaceted needs as a post-carbon 21stcentury economy takes shape:
- Electric Vehicle Infrastructure
- Project Finance and Development
- Telecommunications, Fiber, and Wireless Facilities Infrastructure
The Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Team provides its clients, including businesses, municipalities, and universities, with the diverse legal services needed to further the transportation transformation for automated, connected, and electric vehicles.
The Project Finance and Development Team has experience negotiating the commercial contracts and financing agreements related to power, petrochemical, infrastructure, and other projects, assisting with all stages of a project’s development and financing.
The Telecommunications, Fiber, and Wireless Facilities Infrastructure Team offers decades of experience advising clients on regional, national, and international telecom infrastructure and network transactions. The team counsels clients on dark fiber, wavelength circuit and subsea cable system builds, leases and purchases, distributed antennae system, and WiFi deployments, and on the provision and procurement of additional network services.
The new teams are led by James Grice, who serves as the Energy and Infrastructure Sector Team co-chair with Brit Brown, and their creation and success have been enhanced on a continuous basis since 2022 through the arrival of Grice, Michael McKinley, Bruce (Eddie) Lowry, Anne Levin-Nussbaum, Jonathan Beckham, David Thompson, and Michael Borovik.
Some of the services these new teams are providing to Akerman clients include:
- State and federal regulation of EV charging infrastructure and sales of energy to EV end-use customers
- Utility rate design and ratemaking for EV charging
- Tax issues for EV purchases, infrastructure development, and procurement of various environmental credits
- Financing and agreements for energy storage and battery facilities
- Development of microgrids and electric vehicle fleet charging facilities
- Transactions involving both private and consortium subsea cable systems
- Helping facilitate the construction of global cloud infrastructures
- Working with wireless tower owners and developers on all aspects of siting more than 200 cellular towers
Grice, who focuses his practice on representing investors, developers, operators, and users in the data center and digital infrastructure realm, has also distinguished himself in the renewable energy sector, where he utilizes his intimate understanding of project finance and his experience with tax incentives to help clients structure deals.
He said these new Energy and Infrastructure teams meet a growing demand across the United States for assistance and guidance in building new infrastructure and enhancing and expanding existing systems. "The technology that will be ubiquitous tomorrow will rely on infrastructure and systems built today. Our legal teams are helping to create that world with our experience, knowledge, and industry acumen. Akerman has assembled a talented, multidisciplinary practice that spans the country, and I am proud to be a part of it," said Grice.
"The expansion of our Energy and Infrastructure Sector Team’s capabilities demonstrates Akerman’s agility and capacity to provide cutting-edge counsel to our clients in a time of rapid technological transformation," said Scott A. Meyers, Akerman’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "The evolution of these technologies presents our clients with great opportunities, and our team delivers the experience and knowledge to capitalize on them."
About Akerman
Akerman LLP is a top 100 U.S. law firm recognized among the most forward-thinking firms in the industry by Financial Times. Its more than 700 lawyers and business professionals collaborate with the world’s most successful enterprises and entrepreneurs to navigate change, seize opportunities, and help drive innovation and growth.
Akerman’s Energy and Infrastructure Sector Team provides integrated solutions to the complex and dynamic requirements of clients operating in oil, gas, and petrochemical industry sectors as well as newer and growing sectors that are rapidly evolving as the economy responds to clean energy transition, reduced carbon emission, and domestic manufacturing goals. The team, which includes former counsel for local governments and state and federal agencies, as well as recognized leaders in Brownfields and infrastructure development, has extensive experience in all facets of the oil and gas industry from upstream to downstream, environmental, transactional, financing, permitting, litigation, and regulatory matters related to all types of transactions and disputes. The lawyers represent sponsors, financial institutions, investment funds, developers, and government entities in all areas related to project development and project finance transactions involving renewable energy and other energy infrastructure projects, electric vehicles infrastructure, and data centers and digital infrastructure. Their work encompasses assisting both emerging and Fortune 500 companies and includes private equity deals, mergers and acquisitions, capital market transactions, tax credit financings, land use, construction, government affairs, corporate, economic development incentives, and complex compliance matters.