Five Leading Global Energy Project Finance Partners Join Hunton & Williams LLP

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON — May 20, 2010 — Hunton & Williams LLP announces Ellis Butler, John Hawkins, Raj Pande, Jeff Schroeder, and Larry Skinner have joined the firm as partners on its global Energy Project Finance team, and that Hawkins and Schroeder will serve as co-heads of the team. Pande will serve as chair of the firm's Japan practice and co-chair the firm's Asia steering committee. The five new partners bring deep project development experience to the firm, and join the firm’s broader energy practice with more than 100 attorneys across numerous practice areas who represent clients throughout the United States and in more than 50 countries on six continents. The new partners come to the firm from Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP, where they were also partners.

"This is an exciting addition to a strong practice group at a time when our clients around the world have a growing desire to develop new energy projects," said Wally Martinez, managing partner of Hunton & Williams.

Hunton & Williams has had a leading energy and utility practice for nearly a century and has represented a broad array of electric utility companies, unregulated energy companies, independent system operators, oil and gas companies, and lenders to and developers of some of the largest energy project financing transactions globally. The firm's project finance practice has been ranked by The AmericanLawyer as one of the top worldwide, and was also highly ranked in Chambers Global for 2010.

"We chose Hunton & Williams because of its outstanding history in the field and the firm's long-term commitment to energy and project finance as a core practice," said Hawkins. "The combined experience of our group and the Hunton & Williams energy team will expand the capabilities we have to meet clients' growing needs domestically and internationally," added Schroeder.

The new partners currently represent developers and financial institutions throughout the world in connection with project development, financings and acquisitions of nuclear power plants and fossil fuel plants, as well as renewable energy projects, LNG, oil and gas upstream and downstream facilities, infrastructure assets and manufacturing facilities. Some of their past project financings include: InterGen's $3.4 billion refinancing; Tokyo Electric Power Company's $3.7 billion acquisition of Mirant's power generation business in the Philippines, and Con Edison’s sale of 1,706 MW (worth $1.47 billion) of generation projects to North American Energy Alliance, LLC, and Reliance Power’s $4.2 billion, 3,960 MW Sasan project in India.

Hawkins and Pande will join the firm's New York office, and Butler, Schroeder and Skinner will join the Washington office.

About Hunton & Williams LLP

Hunton & Williams LLP provides legal services to corporations, financial institutions, governments and individuals, as well as to a broad array of other entities. Since our establishment more than a century ago, Hunton & Williams has grown to more than 900 lawyers serving clients in 100 countries from 18 offices around the world. While our practice has a strong industry focus on energy, financial services and life sciences, the depth and breadth of our experience extends to more than 100 separate practice areas, including bankruptcy and creditors rights, commercial litigation, corporate transactions and securities law, intellectual property, international and government relations, regulatory law, products liability, and privacy and information management.

Bios of New Partners

John Hawkins (New York and Washington) is a partner who will co-head the firm's global Energy Project Finance team. His practice focuses on project and structured finance, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate law. Hawkins has represented institutional investors, private equity and hedge funds, commercial lenders, and developers in a variety of project and structured finance matters involving, among other things, financing, leasing, development, joint ventures, restructurings, and asset acquisitions and sales. He is listed in Euromoney's "Guide to the World's Leading Lawyers"; Chambers USA Experts Directory as a "Leading Lawyer" for Project Finance; and is rated "Preeminent" in his practice area by Martindale-Hubbell Legal Directories. He received his J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law and his B.A. from Lehigh University.

Jeff Schroeder (Washington) is a partner who will co-head the firm's global Energy Project Finance team. His practice focuses on domestic and international development and project finance and asset, stock, and portfolio acquisitions. He has extensive experience representing clients in all aspects of the development, acquisition, structuring, and financing of various types of assets, including electric-generating facilities, gas pipelines, compression facilities, and industrial process equipment. He has represented clients in transactions involving many complex financing structures, including Rule 144A offerings, syndicated commercial bank debt, commercial paper programs, export credit agency, and other government-guaranteed financing and risk insurance programs. He is listed as a leading project finance lawyer by Chambers USA: America's Leading Business Lawyers 2005-2010, and as a "Leading Project Finance Lawyer" in the International Financial Law Review. He holds a J.D. from Washington and Lee University (cum laude) and a B.A. from the University of Virginia.

Raj Pande (New York) is a partner with more than 20 years of experience in project development and finance, mergers and acquisitions, banking, and structured finance. He will be chair of the firm's Japan practice and co-chair of the firm's Asia steering committee. He has represented commercial lenders, financial institutions, multilateral development agencies, project sponsors and developers, equity funds, and other project participants in a broad range of projects in the United States, Europe, and Asia. He also focuses on mergers and acquisitions, representing principals in international/cross-border mergers and acquisitions and FDI transactions, and banks and corporate borrowers in acquisition financings. Pande has been recognized for his work project development and finance, and mergers & acquisitions by Chambers Global; The Asia Pacific Legal 500; Project Finance Expert Guide; and Asia Law (Euromoney). He was named a "Leading Lawyer for Telecommunications" by Euromoney's Special Edition Guide to the World's Leading Telecommunications Lawyers. Pande holds an LL.B., M.B.A., and B.Eng. from McGill University.

Ellis Butler (Washington) is a partner and focuses his work in the areas of finance, acquisitions and dispositions, project development, and other complex business transactions involving energy, infrastructure, and industrial assets. Butler has represented clients in a wide range of transactions and projects around the world, including Latin America, Europe, and Asia. His clients include project developers and sponsors, private equity, and other financial investors, and lending institutions. Butler has advised clients in a variety of project finance and leveraged finance structures, and with their joint venture and portfolio management activities. He also has extensive experience representing project owners in the negotiation of construction, operation and maintenance, power sales, fuel supply, and other commercial arrangements for the ownership and operation of energy projects. He holds a J.D. (cum laude) from Harvard Law School, a M.P.P. from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a B.A. (with distinction) from the University of Virginia.

Larry Skinner (Washington) is a partner with more than 25 years of experience in energy matters. His practice focuses primarily on project development and finance, having worked on projects in Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the United States. Skinner also has an extensive background in energy regulation and dispute resolution, representing market participants in the formation of an independent system operator and parties acquiring or disposing of energy assets. He holds a J.D. (magna cum laude) from the T.C. Williams School of Law of the University of Richmond and a B.B.A. from the College of William & Mary.