Jay Matthew Gutierrez

Partner

Jay M. Gutierrez is the leader of Morgan Lewis's Energy Practice and currently serves on the firm's Advisory Board. 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 the past 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.

Mr. Gutierrez has represented numerous clients that own, operate, and seek to develop 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, and 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.

Mr. Gutierrez is particularly active in advising clients in the area of new nuclear plants, including the need for power, choice of technology, alternative site considerations, and regulatory and commercial issues associated with project development. Most recently, he has assisted in the preparation of the lead application for a new fleet of reactors planned in the United Kingdom and in the development of third-party liability legislation on behalf of a country with an emerging nuclear program. Mr. Gutierrez also was retained in 2007 by the U.S. Department of Energy to lead a team of lawyers in the preparation and defense of a license application for a high-level waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

Mr. Gutierrez first became interested 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 was 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 the 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.

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 the past six years, Mr. Gutierrez has 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 only.