Former NERC Senior Director Rebecca Michael Joins Arnold & Porter
WASHINGTON, DC, March 23, 2016 -- Arnold & Porter LLP announced today that Rebecca Michael has joined the firm as counsel in the Energy practice. Ms. Michael, resident in the Washington, DC office, focuses her practice on electric energy regulatory matters. She counsels clients on competitive energy market, rule enforcement, and compliance issues.
Prior to joining Arnold & Porter, Ms. Michael served as Senior Director for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), a non-profit organization that sets and enforces reliability standards for electric utility systems throughout North America. She led NERC’s compliance enforcement efforts, represented NERC before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and provided legal counsel in connection with major NERC initiatives. During her tenure at NERC, Ms. Michael was involved in high profile rule-making and enforcement cases. She served as legal lead for NERC’s critical infrastructure protection department, human resources, reliability risk management, and reliability assessment and performance analysis. Additionally, Ms. Michael provided counsel on a variety of matters, including the new Bulk Electric System Definition, the Compliance Enforcement Initiative, and the reform of NERC Rules of Procedure. She also negotiated and updated international agreements for compliance assurance and enforcement activities, establishing working relationships with Canadian government officials and Mexican regulator representatives.
Prior to her post at NERC, Ms. Michael spent more than a decade in private practice with a focus on electric energy regulatory issues. She advised clients on competitive energy market issues and represented clients in all phases of regulatory proceedings as applicants and intervenors before FERC, including drafting settlement agreements, rulemaking comments, and rehearing of orders, and other regulatory matters.
Practice Group Chair Brian Israel said: “We are delighted to welcome Rebecca to the firm. Her strong background in enforcement, history of representation before FERC, and private practice experience will bring tremendous value to our clients in the energy sector.”
Ms. Michael obtained her JD from Vanderbilt University School of Law. She earned her BA, summa cum laude, from Samford University.
Arnold & Porter LLP is an international law firm of nearly 800 lawyers with offices in Brussels, Denver, Houston, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Washington, DC. The firm, founded in 1946, maintains more than 25 practice areas spanning a broad spectrum of the law, with a primary focus on litigation, transactional matters, and regulatory issues.