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Practice Area
Project and Energy Law
Lemah Islam
November 08, 2024
Practice Area at Clear Law
Projects and Energy Law
Projects and energy law involve complex construction, redevelopment, and infrastructure projects, often in the energy sector. It encompasses financing, development, and sometimes litigation related to energy and infrastructure projects, including work on oil, gas, and renewable resources. Lawyers collaborate with finance and corporate teams to facilitate large-scale national and international projects, such as roads, railways, telecoms, utilities, and waste plants. Energy lawyers focus on contract work and regulatory compliance for both renewable and non-renewable resources, with some firms specialising in energy infrastructure and others handling energy financing.
What Lawyers Do
Energy and Projects lawyers draft contracts, conduct due diligence, and manage agreements for various stakeholders. They specialise in areas like construction, finance, real estate, and regulatory compliance. Financing these projects can be risky, so lawyers structure deals to distribute risk among multiple stakeholders (such as SPVs and contractors). For international work, energy lawyers draft agreements and licenses between government and private companies, often negotiating with regulatory bodies to comply with national and EU regulations.
Trainee Role
Trainees in projects and energy law assist in drafting agreements, perform due diligence, and support the finance and corporate teams in structuring deals. They may attend site visits, help with regulatory compliance, and gain exposure to international transactions. This role requires adaptability and an interest in working with large, tangible projects that involve high-value, complex transactions across multiple jurisdictions.
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Projects and Energy News
At COP28 last year, all parties acknowledged that renewable and low-carbon hydrogen will be an essential factor in meeting global energy needs while decarbonising industry. With law firms advising clients on green hydrogen projects which seek to replace conventional fuels within heavy transport, thermal power stations, domestic heat grids, and industrial activity, hydrogen has the potential to make a vital contribution toward decarbonising hard-to electrify processes.
The Legal 500 energy rankings cover four core areas of the market – mining and minerals; oil and gas; power (including electricity, nuclear and renewables); and water, listing 70 firms and 150 individuals in total.
For close to two years now, energy sector commentators have spoken of a ‘trilemma’: a struggle to balance the three competing imperatives of energy transition, security, and affordability. Of these three, energy transition arguably looms largest. For John Dewar, project, energy and infrastructure finance partner at Milbank and Legal 500 Hall of Famer for power: ‘The push to the energy transition has been the most disruptive change in the energy market in decades.’
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