Earle H. O’Donnell
Earle H. O'Donnell is head of White & Case LLP's Energy Markets and Regulatory Practice, and a member of the Firm's Energy, Infrastructure and Project and Asset Finance Group. Mr. O'Donnell represents US and international entities who are engaged in the energy industry as independent power producers, energy trading companies, electric utilities, consumers of power, or equity and debt investors. His work encompasses a wide variety of advisory, litigation and transactional matters including representation of applicants and interveners in merger and acquisitions cases, RTO proceedings, transmission and interconnection matters, market-based rates, government audits and enforcement actions (both state and federal), and state and federal regulatory proceedings.
Mr. O’Donnell has extensive experience negotiating agreements for the purchase and sale of electric energy and related products, thermal energy and natural gas. He also has extensive experience representing clients before the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, state public service commissions and federal and state appellate courts. He has presented oral argument in many state and federal appellate courts. He has also served as an arbitrator in several disputes involving power purchase agreements, and as an expert witness.
Mr. O'Donnell is a nationally recognized authority within the energy industry who has been invited to speak at many venues, including the annual Platts Utility M&A conference in New York, where he has spoken about navigating the shifting tides of energy sector M&A after repeal of PUHCA 1935 and the divestiture and spin-off of assets. Mr. O'Donnell has been interviewed by national and international media. He was interviewed by TV Globo International, Brazil's largest television programmer, regarding the US energy regulatory system, and by MSNBC, regarding the proposed acquisition of TXU by a private equity group. Mr. O'Donnell is also an accomplished author on energy markets and regulatory issues.
He is consistently listed in yearly editions of Chambers USA and Chambers Global, both of whom have included him in Band One for Energy: Electricity for many years. The 2008 edition of Chambers USA described him as "one of the top energy lawyers in the states - a man with a great ability to analyze matters from both a legal and business perspective."
