Van Ness Feldman is a law and government relations firm specializing in energy, environment and natural resources law with offices in Washington D.C., Seattle, the San Francisco Bay Area, Houston and Baton Rouge.
Founded in Washington, D.C. in 1977 by four former congressional and executive branch counsel, Van Ness Feldman has grown to include over 100 lawyers and policy professionals in their Washington, D.C., Seattle, Bay Area, Houston and Baton Rouge offices.
Two of the firm's original founders, William J. "Bill" Van Ness Jr. and Howard Feldman worked under U.S. Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson. [1] Van Ness first served as special counsel and later (beginning in 1970) as chief counsel of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. During his tenure, he drafted several pieces of major environmental legislation, including the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Current Acting Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair, Willie Phillips, is an alumnus of the firm. [2]
The late Robert (Bob) Nordhaus was a partner in the firm. Bob originally joined Van Ness Feldman in 1981, after serving three years as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s first General Counsel. He practiced with the firm until 1993, when he was appointed General Counsel of the Department of Energy by President Clinton. He rejoined the firm in 1997. In 1977, prior to his service at FERC, Bob was a member of the Energy Policy and Planning Office in the Carter White House, and served as Assistant Administrator of the Federal Energy Administration. In 1975 and 1976, he was counsel to the House Commerce Committee, and from 1963 to 1974, he was Assistant Counsel in the Legislative Counsel’s Office of the U.S. House of Representatives and was the author of Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act. [3]
Former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission general counsel Doug Smith currently serves as Co-Chair of the firm, and serves alongside Nancy Macan McNally.
Former U.S. Senate Sergeant at Arms James Ziglar is Senior Counsel at the firm. [4] Former Congressman Norm Dicks joined the firm in 2013 as Senior Policy Advisor. [5] In May 2015, former Senator Mary Landrieu joined the firm as a Senior Policy Advisor. [6]
Jack Lew, former Secretary of the Treasury, former Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget and former White House Chief of Staff was a partner in the firm from 1988 to 1993. [7]
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is the independent agency of the United States government that regulates the transmission and wholesale sale of electricity and natural gas in interstate commerce and regulates the transportation of oil by pipeline in interstate commerce. FERC also reviews proposals to build interstate natural gas pipelines, natural gas storage projects, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, in addition to licensing non-federal hydropower projects.
Mary Loretta Landrieu is an American entrepreneur and politician who served as a United States senator from Louisiana from 1997 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, Landrieu served as the Louisiana State Treasurer from 1988 to 1996, and in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1980 to 1988.
Russell Billiu Long was an American Democratic politician and United States Senator from Louisiana from 1948 until 1987. Because of his seniority, he advanced to chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, serving for fifteen years, from 1966 to 1981, during the implementation of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society and War on Poverty programs. Long also served as Assistant Majority Leader from 1965 to 1969.
Norman DeValois Dicks is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Washington's 6th congressional district, between 1977 and 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party. His district was located in the northwestern corner of the state, and includes most of Tacoma. He retired at the end of the 112th Congress. He currently serves as Senior Policy Advisor at the law and public policy firm Van Ness Feldman LLP. He is the longest-serving member ever of the United States House of Representatives from the state of Washington.
John Bennett Johnston Jr. is a retired American attorney, politician, and later lobbyist. A member of the Democratic Party, Johnston represented Louisiana in the U.S. Senate from 1972 to 1997.
Norman C. Bay is an American attorney. He is the former United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico. Bay was the first Chinese-American United States Attorney. Bay is the former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. He is currently a partner at the law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
Jacob Joseph Lew is an American attorney and politician who served as the 76th United States Secretary of the Treasury from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he also served as the 25th White House Chief of Staff from 2012 to 2013 and director of the Office of Management and Budget in both the Clinton administration and Obama administration.
William Morgan Cassidy is an American physician and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Louisiana, a seat he has held since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the Louisiana State Senate from 2006 to 2009 and in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2009 to 2015.
Jon B. Wellinghoff is an American attorney who served as the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) from 2009 to 2013. The FERC is a U.S. government agency that regulates the interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas, and oil. The FERC also reviews proposals to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and interstate natural gas pipelines and licenses hydropower projects.
Donald Jules Cazayoux Jr. is an American lawyer and former politician. He served as the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana from 2010 to 2013. From 2008 to 2009, he was a Democratic United States Representative from Louisiana's 6th congressional district.
The 1996 Louisiana United States Senate election was held on November 5, 1996, to select a new U.S. Senator from the state of Louisiana to replace retiring John Bennett Johnston, Jr. of Shreveport. After the jungle primary election, state treasurer Mary Landrieu went into a runoff election with State Representative Woody Jenkins of Baton Rouge, a former Democrat who had turned Republican two years earlier.
Charles B. Curtis is an American lawyer, currently senior advisor (nonresident) to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, vice chair of the United States Department of State's International Security Advisory Board, 2011 through 2017, former member of the National Academies Intelligence Science and Technology Experts Group, and President Emeritus of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a non-profit organization working to reduce the threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. In addition to working in private practice for more than sixteen years, Curtis served as the last chairman of the Federal Power Commission and the first chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from 1977 to 1981. In 1994 he was appointed and confirmed as undersecretary and then deputy secretary of the US Department of Energy. He has held positions on the staff of the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Treasury Department, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Brian Anthony Jackson is an American lawyer who serves as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana.
The Washington Campus (TWC) is a non-profit, non-partisan, higher education consortium based in Washington, D.C. Consortium members and other partnering institutions include some of the world's leading universities and business schools. The Washington Campus was founded in December 1978 and held its first executive and academic programs in 1979. The lead founder of the consortium, L. William Seidman, was the former economic advisor to President Gerald Ford and the 14th Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Joseph Timothy Kelliher is an American energy executive and former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
Garret Neal Graves is an American politician serving as the United States representative from Louisiana's 6th congressional district since 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party.
Indranil "Neil" Chatterjee is an American lawyer, political advisor, and government official who was a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. He was Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from August 10, 2017, to December 7, 2017, and again from October 24, 2018, until he was removed from the position by President Donald Trump on November 5, 2020.
Richard Glick is an American political aide and government official who served as Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
Bernard L. McNamee is a government official who served as Commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from 2018 to 2020. McNamee was confirmed by the United States Senate as a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on December 6, 2018. He previously served in various state and federal legal and policy positions and practiced energy law in the private sector.
James Danly is an American attorney serving as a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. He was nominated by President Donald Trump in 2019 and took office on March 31, 2020. He formerly served as the agency's general counsel. On November 5, 2020, he was named chairman of FERC. After serving for only 77 days, Danly was demoted on January 21, 2021, when President Biden named Richard Glick Chairman.