NEW YORK and HARTFORD, April 4, 2019: Morgan Lewis announced today that John Klauberg, Charles Vandenburgh, and Michael Espinoza have joined the firm as partners. John, Charlie, and Mike focus on the electric power and gas industries and have led numerous high-profile merger and acquisition transactions in the power and utilities space.
They arrive from a national law firm where John served as co-chair of the power projects practice. John and Mike are resident in the New York office; Charlie is resident in Hartford. It is anticipated that they will be joined by several associates resident in New York.
The three partners advise clients on energy transactions—including mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures—involving regulated electric and gas utilities; conventional, renewable, and distributed electric generation facilities; retail electric and gas businesses; and electric transmission facilities.
“With the addition of John, Charlie, and Mike, we are truly building strength on strength in our global energy transactions practice,” said Firm Chair Jami McKeon. “They are recognized industry leaders and among the most knowledgeable lawyers in their field. Our clients will benefit greatly from their extensive experience.”
John, who has been practicing for more than 30 years, has received the highest ranking (Band 1) from Chambers USA in Energy: Electricity (Transactional) since 2010. He also was recognized last year by The National Law Journal as an M&A and Antitrust Trailblazer and by Law360 in 2016 as an MVP of the Year in Energy.
“Our new partners add tremendous depth of experience and breadth of skills to our already robust and growing global energy transactions practice,” said Steven Browne, global leader of the firm’s corporate and business transactions practice. “Growing our project finance, infrastructure, and natural resources team in New York and Hartford with John, Charlie, and Mike is a key step in expanding our global energy transactions capabilities, particularly in the electric power and gas industries.”