Overview

Nash is lead counsel for clients in high-stakes litigation across the country, with extensive jury trial, bench trial, and arbitration experience. Such matters have included contract disputes, intellectual property cases, environmental and toxic tort claims, class actions and putative class actions. For example, over the prior 20 years, Nash has represented dozens of energy clients nationwide in matters with over $15 billion in dispute.

Nash is a frequent speaker at industry and bar conferences on topics including trial practice, including those sponsored by the American Bar Association. A former chair of the American Bar Association’s Trial Practice Committee, he has published several items on litigation and trial skills. See, e.g., Nash Long, ed., Trying Your First Case: A Practitioner’s Guide (American Bar Association, 2014). He has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America every year since 2010, and by Chambers USA as a “Leader in the Field.”

Nash clerked for the Honorable Frank W. Bullock, Jr. in the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina from 1997 to 1998. He is admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court, the US Courts of Appeals for the District of Columbia and the Third, Fourth, Sixth, Seventh and Eleventh Circuits, and the United States District Courts for the Western District of North Carolina, the Middle District of North Carolina and the Eastern District of North Carolina. Prior to his law career, Nash served as a probation officer in the district courts of Dallas County, Texas.

Experience

  • Financial Services Litigation: Obtained reversal of an award of punitive damages against a major financial institution in a class action in Missouri.
  • Commercial Litigation: Coordinated the representation of a major financial institution in a series of real estate disputes in state courts across the country.
  • Intellectual Property: Successfully defended a major financial institution in a patent infringement suit in the S.D.N.Y., in which the jury rendered a complete defense verdict of no infringement and invalidity of the plaintiff’s patent.
  • Environmental Litigation (Administrative):  Represents clients in rulemaking litigation in state and federal proceedings before both administrative agencies and courts.  Representative cases include Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association, et al. v. Regan (8th Cir. 2023) (lead counsel for petitioners in achieving vacatur of an EPA rule, issued under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act, concerning the uses of pesticides on agricultural crops); In re FIFRA Section 6(b) Notice of Intent to Cancel Pesticide Registrations for Chlorpyrifos Products, EPA Docket No. FIFRA-HQ-2023-0001 (lead counsel for agricultural groups in successfully opposing an attempt by EPA to cancel pesticide registrations under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, Rodenticide Act). 
  • Environmental Litigation (Enforcement): Defends companies in RCRA, Clean Water Act, and Clean Air Act enforcement actions. Representative cases include:  Little v. Louisville Gas and Electric Co., No. 3:13-cv-01214-JHM-DW, 2017 WL 603294 (W.D. Ky. Feb. 13, 2017), Roanoke River Basin Association v. Duke Energy Progress, LLC, No. 1:17-cv-00561-LCB-JLW, 2018 WL 1605022 (M.D.N.C. Mar. 29, 2018) (dismissal of all RCRA citizen suit claims), Roanoke River Basin Association v. Duke Energy Progress, LLC, No. 1:17-cv-00707-LCB-JLW, 2018 WL 2417862 (M.D.N.C. May 29, 2018) (dismissal of all RCRA citizen suit claims); Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Environmental Protection v. Allegheny Energy, Inc., No. 2:05-cv-00885-JFC, 2014 WL 494574 (W.D. Pa. Feb. 6, 2014) (defense verdict on CAA citizen suit); Sierra Club v. Otter Tail Power Co., 608 F. Supp. 2d 1120 (D.S.D. 2009), aff’d 615 F.3d 1008 (8th Cir. 2010) (dismissal of CAA citizen suit), United States v. Duke Energy Corp., 278 F. Supp. 2d 619 (MDNC 2003), aff’d on other grounds, 411 F.3d 539 (4th Cir. 2005), vacated by Environmental Defense v. Duke Energy Corp., 549 U.S. 561 (2007) (CAA enforcement, including citizen suit claims), National Parks Conservation Association et al. v. Tennessee Valley Authority, 2010 WL 1291335 (E. D. Tenn. Mar. 31, 2010) (defense verdict on CAA citizen suit), Sierra Club v. Dairyland Power Cooperative, No. 10-303 (W.D. Wis.) (CAA citizen suit, dismissed); Sierra Club v. Tennessee Valley Authority, No. 3:02-cv-2279-VEH (N.D. Ala. Jan. 6, 2009) (defense verdict on CAA citizen suit).
  • Toxic Tort and Nuisance Litigation: Represents electric utilities in cases alleging personal injury and property claims arising from plant operations.
  • Energy Litigation: Represented an electric utility and its affiliates on a confidential arbitration of a contractual dispute with a railroad.

Accolades

Honors & Recognitions

  • Recognized as a Leader in Environment, North Carolina, Chambers USA, 2014, 2019-2024
  • Selected as a member of 500 Leading US Energy Lawyers guide, Lawdragon, 2023
  • Recognized as a Best Lawyer for Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Environmental and Litigation – Intellectual Property, The Best Lawyers in America, 2010-2024
  • Recommended for Energy Litigation: Conventional Power, Legal 500 United States, 2022
  • ABA Bar Leadership Institute, 2021
  • Named among Environmental Rising Stars, Law360, 2011
  • Recognized among Top Lawyers in Commercial Litigation, The American Lawyer/Corporate Counsel, 2011
  • Mecklenburg County Bar Leadership Institute, 2002

Affiliations

Professional

  • Member, American Bar Association (Chief Revenue Officer, Litigation Section; past Managing Director, Litigation Section; past co-chair, 2024 Section Annual Conference; past Chair, Membership & Marketing, past Chair, Trial Practice Committee)
  • Member, North Carolina Bar Association
  • Member, Mecklenburg County Bar Association
  • Fellow, American Bar Foundation

Insights

Events & Speaking Engagements

  • May 2024
    Event
    Speaker
    John Minor Wisdom Awards Luncheon, ABA Litigation Section Annual Conference
  • December 7, 2022
    Event
    Speaker
    How to Be—and Be Recognized as—a First Chair Trial Lawyer, ABA Litigation Section, Washington, D.C.
  • May 5, 2022
    Event
    Speaker
    Business Development in the Digital Age: Social Media, Networking, and Thought Leadership for the Modern Lawyer, ABA Litigation Section Annual Conference
  • May 4, 2022
    Event
    Speaker
    Witness Ethics: Steering Clear of Potential Minefields, ABA Litigation Section Annual Conference
  • March 8, 22, 23, 2022
    Event
    Speaker
    Practical Skills for New Litigators: Expert Depositions, ABA Section of Litigation
  • May 6, 2021
    Event
    Speaker
    Enforcement Priorities for the Biden Administration: What Companies and Their Counsel Need to Know, ABA Litigation Section Annual Conference
  • September 1-2, 2020 and October 26-27, 2020
    Event
    Program Chair and Speaker
    Effective Strategies for Depositions of Expert Witnesses, ABA Section of Litigation
  • September 10, 2020
    Event
    Speaker
    Environmental Law & Litigation 101 for Electric Utilities, presented by EUCI
  • August 27, 2020 and October 20, 2020
    Event
    Speaker
    Practical Skills for New Litigators: Expert Depositions, ABA Section of Litigation
  • March 2019
    Event
    Program Chair and Speaker
    Effective Strategies for Depositions of Expert Witnesses, ABA Section of Litigation, Charlotte, NC
  • May 2016
    Event
    Speaker
    Coal Combustion Residuals—Preparing for Citizen Suit Litigation, Edison Electric Institute Spring Legal Conference, Palm Beach, Florida
  • April 2016
    Event
    Speaker
    Developments in Antitrust Enforcement, ABA Section of Litigation Annual Conference, Chicago, Illinois
  • February 2016
    Event
    Speaker
    The Move to Pay for Value, ABA Health Law Litigation Regional CLE Seminar, Miami, Florida
  • February 2015
    Event
    Speaker
    Supreme Court Review, ABA Corporate Counsel CLE Seminar, Miami, Florida
  • September 2014
    Event
    Speaker
    Using Daubert as Sword and Shield: Expert Testimony Post-McGrady, North Carolina Advocates for Justice, Raleigh, North Carolina
  • August 2014
    Event
    Speaker
    Tactical and Ethical Issues in Preparing Corporate Witnesses, ABA Annual Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts
  • August 2013
    Event
    Speaker
    Hot Topics in Energy and Environmental Law, ABA Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California
  • January 2013
    Event
    Speaker
    Coal Ash Regulatory and Litigation Developments, Energy, Utility & Environmental Conference, Phoenix, Arizona
  • November 2012
    Event
    Speaker
    Our Deteriorating Energy Infrastructure: How Will the United States Respond?, Energy Roundtable
  • September 2012
    Event
    Speaker
    Impact of EPA Clean Air/Water Regulations on Grid Reliability, Platts 2012 Transmission Planning and Development Conference, Arlington, Virginia
  • June 2011
    Event
    Speaker
    EPA Regulation of Coal Ash, Law Seminars International
  • May 2009
    Event
    Speaker
    How to Conduct a Dynamic Direct and Cross-Examination in a Business Trial, ABA Section of Litigation Annual Conference, Atlanta, Georgia
  • August 2008
    Event
    Speaker
    Litigation Update, 2008 Edison Electric Institute Claims Committee Meeting, Point Clear, Alabama
  • October 2007
    Event
    Speaker
    Litigation Update, 2007 Edison Electric Institute Claims Committee Meeting, Huntington Beach, California
  • June 2005
    Event
    Speaker
    New Source Review: Finding Your Way in Uncharted Territory, AREGC Conference, Bismarck, North Dakota

Publications

  • May 2024
    Publication
    Stare Decisis in the United States Supreme Court (May 2024), published by the ABA Litigation Section as part of the course materials for the Litigation Section Annual Conference, Washington, DC
  • April 2022
    Publication
  • 2014
    Publication
    Editor
    Trying Your First Case: A Practitioner’s Guide
  • Publication
    Co-author
    Course Correction: The Proposed Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on Discovery, EDDE Journal, Summer 2014, Volume 5, Issue 3
  • 2003 to 2010
    Publication
    Editor
    Trial Practice Journal, ABA Section of Litigation
  • Fall 1998
    Publication
    Author
    “The ‘Constitution Remand’: Judicial Review of Constitutionally Dubious Statutes,” Journal of Law & Politics, Vol. XIV, No. 4

Blog Posts

News

Education

JD, Harvard Law School, magna cum laude, 1997

BA and BS, Southern Methodist University, magna cum laude, 1993

Admissions

North Carolina

South Carolina

Clerkships

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