Our People / Paul J. Pantano, Jr.

Paul J. Pantano, Jr.

Paul J. Pantano, Jr.

Partner

Washington, D.C.
T: +1 202 756 8026
F: +1 202 756 8087

ppantano@mwe.com

Paul J. Pantano, Jr. is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP based in the Washington, D.C. office.  He is a member of the Firm's Management Committee and the Co-Head of its Client Service Team Program.  He also has served on McDermott’s Compensation and Executive Committees. 

Paul heads the Firm’s Energy and Derivatives Markets Practice Group, where he focuses his practice primarily in the areas of energy, commodities and derivatives law.  Paul represents energy companies, commodity dealers, brokerage firms, trade associations and financial industry professionals in a wide variety of transactional, regulatory and litigation matters.  He has considerable experience negotiating and drafting structured commodity and derivative transactions.  Paul regularly represents clients in investigations and proceedings before the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and other governmental agencies.  He also counsels financial services, energy and trade association clients on regulatory matters affecting their businesses.

Paul is a member of the CFTC’s Energy Markets Advisory Committee.  He is a member of the board of editors of the Futures & Derivatives Law Report, and has authored many articles for FDLR and other publications.  In addition, he is a frequent speaker at energy and financial industry conferences.  Chambers USA has ranked Paul as one of the top energy lawyers in Washington, D.C. and he is recognized in The Best Lawyers in America.

Paul is the immediate past Chair of the American Bar Association Committee on the Regulation of Futures & Derivative Instruments.  He is a member of the Energy Bar Association, and the Law & Compliance Division of the Futures Industry Association.  From 1994 to 1997, Paul was an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law School, where he co-taught a graduate law course titled, “Regulation of Commodity Futures Transactions.”   Paul is a member of the Duke Law Alumni Board of Directors.

Prior to entering private practice, Paul was a trial attorney in the Division of Enforcement of the CFTC, where he represented the Commission in numerous civil and administrative enforcement actions.

Paul is a member of the District of Columbia Bar Association.

Representative Experience

Government Investigations

  • Represented wholesale commodity dealers and power and gas marketing companies in CFTC, FERC and joint CFTC-FERC investigations, several of which were closed without the agencies initiating enforcement actions
  • Represented Mirant Americas Energy Marketing LP in negotiating the settlement of alleged natural gas price reporting violations

Acquisitions

  • Represented the trading affiliate of an investment bank in negotiating a Private Public Partnership with a state agency for the development and implementation of a residential solar energy program
  • Represented Merrill Lynch in negotiating a complex financing and tax-equity investment commitment for the construction of a series of geothermal power plants
  • Represented Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Merrill Lynch Commodities, Inc. in their acquisition of Entergy-Koch Trading, LP
  • Represented Morgan Stanley in acquisitions of several portfolios of physical and financially-settled energy commodity transactions 
  • Represented Barclays Capital in its acquisition of substantially all of Duke Energy North America's multi-billion portfolio of physical power contracts, natural gas contracts and derivatives contracts

Structured Commodity Transactions

  • Represented Morgan Stanley Capital Group Inc. in negotiating and closing a large, structured natural gas swap transaction with TXU Generation Development Company LLC, an affiliate of TXU Corp.
  • Represented Morgan Stanley in connection with a series of hedge transactions with LSP Gen Finance Co, LLC, a special purpose vehicle and affiliate of LS Power  
  • Represented Bear Energy, a subsidiary of Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. and a FERC authorized power marketer, in negotiating and documenting a highly structured energy management agreement and other related implementation agreements with LS Power Gen Finance Co., LLC, which with one of its affiliates purchased from Duke Energy Corp. eight power plants located in California, Arizona and New England 
  • Represented Morgan Stanley in negotiating a series of complex agreements with La Paloma, a 1000 MW gas-fired combined cycle generation power plant

Education

  • Duke University School of Law, J.D., 1980
  • Trinity College, B.A., 1977

McDermott Will & Emery

McDermott Will and Emery