Climate Change

As the political, corporate, and regulatory responses to climate change initiatives evolve, we are helping our clients both understand the risks and opportunities these initiatives present and develop strategic responses that cut across multiple legal disciplines. Winston & Strawn has a seasoned, international, interdisciplinary team of attorneys who represent clients in complex global climate change and sustainability matters, including attorneys with deep experience in environmental, tax, government affairs, energy and infrastructure, real estate, intellectual property derivatives, litigation and project finance.

Working with our clients across the globe, we have drafted and helped implement sustainability policies reflecting companies' strategic goals in contexts as diverse as energy conservation, renewable power production, tax benefits analysis and planning, agricultural practices, and green buildings, to name just a few. We have assisted our clients in developing wind, solar, combined heat and power, and hydroelectric projects; spearheaded legislative coalitions to lobby on energy tax incentives; federal green tech support, and emissions trading matters; and represented individual companies in connection with federal and state climate change legislation. Our team has also represented clients in negotiating emission reduction credit agreements and carbon allowances under various carbon trading schemes, we have assisted in establishing a "Green Exchange" for trading carbon credits and other environmental offsets, and we have advised our publicly traded clients on their SEC compliance and disclosure obligations related to climate change as well as potential "green advertising" parameters and pitfalls.

We can assist with:

• Renewable and fossil fuel project development, financing, and tax analysis
• Transmission infrastructure projects
• Facility siting and permitting
• Green buildings, green leases, and related real estate matters
• Green house gas reduction and mitigation plans
• Carbon offsets, carbon trading
• Technology licensing and service agreements
• Intellectual property issues for green technology
• Green advertising
• Legislative initiatives, and regulatory rulemaking, federal contracting, federal funding
• Corporate governance and SEC disclosure obligations
• Environmental due diligence/risk analysis
• Construction contract litigation
• Insurance coverage issues
• Brownfields and smart growth developments