Page 27 - The American Lawyer Trailblazers - South 2022

Washington, D.C.

Norman Brownstein

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

What was the genesis of the idea/path that has made you a trailblazer?
In 1968, I launched a legal practice with Steve Farber and Jack Hyatt. Our firm moved into real estate, and was very
successful. This was also the time I started fundraising to support the U.S.-Israel relationship. I developed relation-
ships with elected officials in Washington and held fundraisers for members of the House and Senate—Democrats
and Republicans. That set me on a path to Washington, D.C. In 1995, we opened a D.C. office and are now the
largest lobbying firm by revenue.
What sort of change has resulted from the concept?
During my 30-plus years in Washington, some of the legislation I’ve worked on includes:
■ As part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, instrumental in ensuring the Federal

Reserve and Treasury Department opened up credit markets to serve businesses

■ $100 million in increased federal funding for research into melanoma, prostate cancer and respiratory disease

■ Foreign pension funds ability to invest in U.S. real estate without a 30% tax—a measure that helped save the
commercial real estate industry following the financial crisis
■ In the American Recovery Act of 2009, secured the biggest tax benefit landmark legislation that included a

tax benefit for companies to buy back their debt and defer the taxes on those purchases for 10 years

■ Helped secure an executive order to fight anti-Semitism at American universities

■ Led the cable industry in the 1996 Telecommunications Act
What bearing will this have on the future?
After 30-plus years of lobbying, I’ve learned there are no sure things. And that reflects a political and legislative
process that is highly fluid with members of the House and the Senate, as well as the president, always under
extraordinary pressure to take one position or another.

Colette D. Honorable

Reed Smith

What was the genesis of the idea/path that has made you a trailblazer?
Right time, right place. I was appointed to the Arkansas Public Service Commission in 2006- just as the hydraulic
fracturing and renewable energy sectors were taking off. I also served as Chairman of the APSC, president of the
National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, and at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. I
took the bull by the horns and stepped up to lead.
What sort of change has resulted from the concept?
During my tenure in Arkansas, we developed comprehensive energy efficiency programs that led the South and
Southeast while electricity rates remained among the lowest in the nation, Arkansas ranked first in the nation in
transparency of pipeline safety programs, and we overhauled our net metering rules. These clean energy efforts
are responsible for some 15,000 jobs in Arkansas. At FERC, I was instrumental in developing the first energy stor-
age policy statement and directing regional transmission organizations to revise their market rules to prepare for
battery storage in wholesale markets. These were the first steps to remove barriers to entry for energy storage in
wholesale markets.
What bearing will this have on the future?
In Arkansas, the energy efficiency legacy runs deep. In addition to saving consumers thousands in energy spend-
ing and leveraging the cheapest kilowatt (the one never used) and fighting climate change, this effort has yielded
thousands of jobs, direct and indirect economic development benefits for the State of Arkansas. At FERC, this work
was the precursor to Order 841, which directed regions to open wholesale markets to energy storage, including
aggregated storage resources. This is a critical step in the clean energy transition as storage is a necessary compo-
nent to meaningful renewable energy integration and achieving meaningful strides in the clean energy transition.

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