BOSTON, MA—Womble Bond Dickinson announced today that Paul G. Afonso has joined the firm as a partner in the Corporate & Securities Group.
Afonso brings over 30 years of experience to the Boston office and the firm’s global energy practice with the intersection of policy, politics, and the law. Afonso will also serve as Chairman of Womble Bond Dickinson Government and Public Affairs (WBD Strategies), the firm’s Boston lobbying affiliate.
Afonso joins Womble after serving as Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, and Corporate Secretary at the American Petroleum Institute (API). Prior to that role, Afonso was a partner at Brown Rudnick, where he served as Co-Leader of the firm’s Energy and Government Law & Strategies groups. In those positions, he led a successful, integrated practice, which included the representation of major energy, renewable, and infrastructure entities and lobbying the state and federal government on behalf of clients, including energy, pharmaceuticals, and gaming entities.
Afonso is best known for being a trusted legal and strategic advisor to C-suite and management teams at energy and energy technology companies around the globe ranging from his most recent work at API to electric and gas distribution companies, transmission and generation developers, as well as emerging and renewable technology companies. As part of Womble’s international energy practice, Afonso will focus on innovative technology developments in the energy sector, as well as policy and the regulatory approvals necessary for states and the federal government to achieve significant decarbonization goals. As Chair of WBD Strategies, Afonso will also lead a talented group of government affairs professionals that work in some of the most important and regulated sectors in the Commonwealth, including energy, healthcare and transportation.
Afonso received his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and his B.S. in finance from the Boston College Carroll School of Management.
