Jay Matthew Gutierrez

Partner

Jay M. Gutierrez is a partner in Morgan Lewis's Energy Practice. The Energy Practice is comprised of nuclear, electric, and oil and gas attorneys. The nuclear group is one of the largest such groups in the world.

For more than 30 years, Mr. Gutierrez's practice has focused on representing companies and governments in a variety of matters involving the ownership, operation, and regulation of nuclear power plants. These representations have involved coordination of such diverse issues as developing nuclear regulatory programs; operating plant performance and related management issues; responding to government investigations, including wrongdoing investigations; counseling on new plant initiatives in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and the Middle East in countries with emerging nuclear programs; and addressing corporate governance and co-owner considerations. These representations have involved more than half of the 104 operating reactors in the United States.

Currently, Mr. Gutierrez is particularly active in advising clients in the area of developing new nuclear programs and plants, including the need for power, choice of technology, alternative site considerations, and regulatory and commercial issues associated with project development. Since 2009, he has led a team of lawyers advising EDF Energy on the preparation of the lead application for a new fleet of reactors in the United Kingdom. In 2010, he led a team advising the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy on the development of a nuclear sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Mr. Gutierrez has also advised on the development of third-party nuclear liability legislation on behalf of several countries with emerging nuclear programs. In 2011, Mr. Gutierrez was retained by PGE Energia Jądrowa Spólka Akcyjna (PGE), the nuclear subsidiary of Poland's largest utility, to advise PGE in contract negotiations for site characteristic studies for the development of new nuclear power plants. Mr. Gutierrez also led a team of lawyers from 2007 to 2009 on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy in the preparation and defense of a license application for a high-level waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

Mr. Gutierrez first became involved in nuclear energy regulatory issues in 1980 when he joined the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in response to an increase in litigation following the Three Mile Island accident. He served as a hearing attorney from 1980 to 1983 and, from 1983 to 1989, he served as the first regional counsel to the NRC in Region I. In that capacity, he provided legal support for NRC inspection and investigation activity throughout the Northeast and, particularly, for Three Mile Island restart and initial NRC operational readiness assessments for six newly commissioned reactors. As regional counsel, Mr. Gutierrez participated in more than 300 NRC escalated enforcement matters involving both power reactors and the NRC's nuclear materials program.

In January 2011, Secretary of Commerce Locke appointed Mr. Gutierrez to a two-year term to the Department's Civil Nuclear Trade Advisory Committee. Also in 2011, Mr. Gutierrez joined the Nuclear Law Working Group of the World Nuclear Association, advising on third-party nuclear liability, procurement and regulatory challenges in relation to the development of nuclear power programs in emerging markets.

In selecting Mr. Gutierrez among the top 500 lawyers in the United States, Lawdragon Magazine wrote: "Among the world's foremost energy attorneys, Gutierrez has guided his firm to a leadership position in the U.S. nuclear regulatory market and will play a vital role in the worldwide development of nuclear power programs."

Mr. Gutierrez authored a primer in 1995 on Fundamentals of Nuclear Regulation in the United States, which was updated in 2007. He is an active lecturer on the subject before client groups, as well as at industry conferences. His presentations and articles have included "Initial Regulatory Issues Associated with Nuclear New Build" (2010), "Siting: An Essential Element of Any Nuclear Programme That Warrants Early Consideration" (2010), and "New Nuclear Power: Opportunities and Challenges" (2009). Additionally, for many years, Mr. Gutierrez taught a senior managers' course at the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO), titled "Management Actions for Detection of and Response to Retaliation: One Element in Maintaining a Safety Culture."

Mr. Gutierrez is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia. He is a registered foreign lawyer with the Law Society of England and Wales.