Freeborn & Peters LLP is pleased to announce that Christopher J. Townsend has joined the firm’s Chicago office as a Partner and Co-Leader of Freeborn’s Environment and Energy Practice Group.
“This is the exact right time for Chris to be joining the firm,” said Philip L. Comella, a Freeborn Partner and Co-Leader of the Environment and Energy Practice Group. “Environmental and Energy law and policy continue to converge at an increasing pace, with clients looking for creative but practical ways to address emerging technologies, shifting energy markets, and constantly evolving laws and regulations. I look forward to collaborating with Chris to lead our team helping a wide variety of clients address environmental and energy issues. Chris is a nationally-ranked leader in Energy law, and our clients will greatly benefit from his insights and experience in developing innovative solutions, particularly related to complex infrastructure projects and multi-faceted administrative proceedings.”
Mr. Townsend has more than two decades of experience representing forward-thinking energy market participants, both individually and in coalitions, develop, defend and improve the structures for effective and efficient competition in the energy markets. He regularly provides energy advice to entities other than the local utilities, including large industrial, institutional and commercial energy users; municipalities; and other governmental entities. He also assists alternative electricity and natural gas suppliers in developing the structures for energy markets. In addition, he represents energy project developers on complicated and cutting-edge projects and assists other large-scale energy industry participants.
“We are thrilled to welcome Chris to the firm,” said Freeborn Co-Managing Partner Michael J. Kelly. “His award-winning commitment to client service and continuous focus on positioning clients for the next wave of changes in the energy world is a great fit with our firm’s culture.”
Mr. Townsend has been involved in a wide variety of regulatory proceedings before the Illinois Commerce Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, as well as in numerous legislative efforts before the Illinois General Assembly, with an emphasis on matters related to bringing additional efficiencies to the energy industries. He also has served as counsel to several consortia composed of large industrial, institutional, governmental and commercial electricity consumers; retail energy suppliers; a public water district; and a small privately owned water company. Globally, he has worked with the U.S. State Department and counseled the government of Iraq on multi-billion-dollar energy and infrastructure projects.
Mr. Townsend previously was a partner at DLA Piper and most recently was a member of the Environment, Energy & Natural Resources Practice Group at Clark Hill PLC in Chicago. He has been consistently ranked by Chambers, receiving its top rank in the area of Illinois Energy & Natural Resources law earlier this year. He also is a three-time winner of the exclusive Lexology Client Choice Award for Energy & Natural Resources in Illinois.
Mr. Townsend received his J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law (with honors) and his Bachelor of Arts (cum laude) from Augustana College.
Freeborn’s Environment and Energy Practice Group consists of a diverse group of environmental and energy law practitioners whose skills range from the traditional areas – such as Superfund, Brownfields, energy contracts and utility rate cases – to emerging areas – such as naturally occurring radioactive materials, electronic waste, transactive energy platforms and battery storage. The attorneys also possess experience in the zoning and permitting of waste disposal and treatment facilities, the construction and sale of generation facilities, the nuances of landfill gas projects, the complexities of energy procurement and management, the PCB clean-ups, and the intricacies of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
ABOUT FREEBORN & PETERS
Freeborn & Peters LLP is a full-service law firm, headquartered in Chicago, with international capabilities and offices in New York City; Richmond, Va.; Springfield, Ill.; and Tampa, Fla. Freeborn is always looking ahead and seeking to find better ways to serve its clients. It takes a proactive approach to ensure its clients are more informed, prepared and able to achieve greater success – not just now, but also in the future. While the firm serves clients across a very broad range of sectors, it has also pioneered an interdisciplinary approach that serves the specific needs of targeted industries.
Freeborn is a firm that genuinely lives up to its core values of integrity, effectiveness, teamwork, caring and commitment, and embodies them through high standards of client service and responsive action. Its lawyers build close and lasting relationships with clients and are driven to help them achieve their legal and business objectives.
