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Originally broadcast: Tuesday, December 14, 2021.
 
 A charity encounters surprising roadblocks to building a new cemetery for low-cost Muslim burials in Stafford County, Virginia. In this episode, host Allan Marks follows the cemetery’s path to justice with the lawyers who handled the civil rights case, Tawfiq Rangwala and Melanie Westover Yanez, and their pro bono client, the All Muslim Association of America, at the intersection of religious freedom, land use, and local politics in America today. For additional information, click here.

About the Speakers
Tawfiq Rangwala is a partner in Milbank’s New York office and a member of the firm’s Litigation & Arbitration Group. His practice focuses on the defense of US and international regulatory and criminal enforcement matters, as well as internal investigations across multiple jurisdictions and industries. He also has extensive experience handling federal and state court litigation of complex commercial cases involving securities and corporate law, contract disputes and financial restructuring.

Melanie Westover Yanez is special counsel in the Washington, DC office and a member of the firm’s Litigation & Arbitration Group. She represents clients in federal and state courts in complex commercial litigation and financial restructuring litigation and has experience defending clients in individual and class action cases involving antitrust, securities, and commodities issues.

Podcast host Allan Marks is one of the world's leading project finance lawyers. He advises developers, investors, lenders, and underwriters around the world in the development and financing of complex infrastructure projects, as well as related acquisitions, restructurings and capital markets transactions. Mr. Marks also serves as an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley at both the Law School and the Haas School of Business.

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What impact will the 2024 presidential election have on antitrust policy, federal merger approvals, and foreign investment in the United States? Uncertainty about future federal policy makes investment decisions this year especially challenging. 

In this episode, host Allan Marks speaks with Milbank partners  Adam Di Vincenzo  and  John Beahn  about antitrust and CFIUS policy under the administrations of President Biden and former President Trump, discovering both sharp differences and some surprising similarities. They discuss how to anticipate regulators’ concerns and federal enforcement patterns in merger approvals amid political uncertainty in an election year. They analyze divergent trends in antitrust enforcement, highlighting tensions between economic goals that keep domestic markets competitive and national security goals that favor globally dominant US corporations with wide moats. And they explore how CFIUS, the FTC and DOJ are focusing on supply chains, domestic manufacturing, next-generation technology and AI, and the broader question of what it means to be competitive. 

About the Speakers
John Beahn is a partner in the Washington, DC office of Milbank LLP with a particular focus on matters related to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) and foreign direct investment (“FDI”). He has extensive experience representing clients in national security reviews before CFIUS, the “Team Telecom” executive branch agencies and the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. 

Adam Di Vincenzo is a partner in the Washington, DC office of Milbank and a member of the Litigation & Arbitration Group. He has served as lead antitrust counsel for Fortune 500 public companies, and private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies, in dozens of antitrust matters before enforcement authorities in the United States (including the DOJ and FTC) and internationally.

Podcast host Allan Marks is one of the world's leading project finance lawyers. He advises developers, investors, lenders, and underwriters around the world in the development and financing of complex energy and infrastructure projects, as well as related acquisitions, restructurings and capital markets transactions. Many of his transactions relate to ESG and sustainability, innovative clean technologies, and sophisticated contractual risk allocation. Allan serves as an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley at the Law School and previously at the Haas School of Business.

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The push for cleaner energy has led to greater reliance on intermittent renewable energy resources, particularly solar and wind energy. To integrate these resources into a more efficient and reliable “smart grid” requires new investment in energy storage.  What are the best ways to provide resource adequacy and to bridge the gaps between when (and where) power is generated and when (and where) it is needed?  California is leading the way with massive new investments in innovative energy storage projects.  Developers and utilities are experimenting to optimize battery locations, improve project economics, reduce transmission constraints, and meet variable load requirements.  Regulators in California, Texas and elsewhere are taking divergent market design paths with an eye on reliability, efficiency, and affordability, especially as demand patterns and storage technologies evolve.

In this episode, "Energy Storage at Utility Scale: California Goes All-in," host Allan Marks and four leading energy executives discuss the trajectory of California’s energy storage market.  The discussion includes Emad Alaydi (a professional engineer and Senior Director at Calpine), Karin Burns (Chief Executive Officer of San Diego Community Power), Howard Chang (President and Chief Operating Officer of Ava Community Energy), and Cathleen Colbert (Senior Director, Western Markets Policy Regulatory Affairs for Vistra Corp.) and was recorded before a live audience in Los Angeles at Voltility’s US Energy Storage Market Outlook 2024, hosted by Milbank LLP.

Emad Alaydi is a Senior Director at Calpine Corp, America’s largest generator of electricity from natural gas and geothermal resources.

Karin Burns is Chief Executive Officer at San Diego Community Power, the second largest Community Choice Aggregate (CCA) program in the state of California.

Howard Chang is Chief Operating Officer of Ava Community Energy, a not-for-profit public agency serves the cities of Albany, Berkeley, Dublin, Emeryville, Fremont, Hayward, Livermore, Newark, Oakland, Piedmont, Pleasanton, San Leandro, Tracy, and Union City.

Cathleen Colbert is a Director at Vistra Corp., a Fortune 500 competitive retail electricity provider serving nearly five million customers.

Podcast host Allan Marks is one of the world's leading project finance lawyers. He advises developers, investors, lenders, and underwriters around the world in the development and financing of complex energy and infrastructure projects, as well as related acquisitions, restructurings and capital markets transactions. Many of his transactions relate to ESG and sustainability, innovative clean technologies, and sophisticated contractual risk allocation. Allan serves as an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley at the Law School and previously at the Haas School of Business.

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What blind spots are we missing in the global conversation about energy and geopolitics?  In this episode, The Geopolitics of Energy: “Shifting Sands,” Allan Marks hosts a fireside chat with Dr. Carolyn Kissane, a professor at NYU’s SPS Center for Global Affairs. 

Public policies in Europe, the US and China are stimulating massive capital investment in renewable energy, EVs, batteries and the energy transition, and India is a rapidly rising economy. Mr. Marks and Dr. Kissane look at these interrelated issues and the outsized effects of wars and climate change on global resource security, energy use, water supplies and demographics. They also assess the challenges of climate risks, increased electricity demand, uneven economic growth, national security risks, and the controversial roles of natural gas and hydrogen in decarbonization. The dynamics of the world’s manufacturing powers are shifting. 

About the Speakers

Dr. Carolyn Kissane is Associate Dean of the graduate programs in Global Affairs and Global Security, Conflict and Cybercrime at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs and is a Clinical Professor where she teaches graduate-level courses examining the geopolitics of energy, comparative energy politics, energy, environment and resource security, and climate change and security. She is the Founding Director of the SPS Energy, Climate Justice and Sustainability Lab, Coordinator of the Energy and Environment concentration at the Center, and a faculty adviser to the Energy Policy International Club. She serves on the boards of the New York Energy Forum, New York Energy Week, and the Clean Start Advisory Board.

Podcast host Allan Marks is one of the world's leading project finance lawyers. He advises developers, investors, lenders, and underwriters around the world in the development and financing of complex energy and infrastructure projects, as well as related acquisitions, restructurings and capital markets transactions. Many of his transactions relate to ESG and sustainability, innovative clean technologies, and sophisticated contractual risk allocation. Allan serves as an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley at the Law School and previously at the Haas School of Business.

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How is espionage evolving between China, Russia and the United States?  What should a board director ask corporate management about AI, state-sponsored cyberattacks, and political risk in making strategic decisions?  Host Allan Marks sits down with former FBI Special Agent Holden Triplett for a candid, wide-ranging and practical conversation about how companies and policymakers can better manage national security risks in a world of shifting geopolitics and disruptive technologies. While at the FBI, Holden was posted to Moscow and Beijing and acted as the Director for Counterintelligence at the National Security Council.  From boardroom to intelligence briefing, his experience makes for a lively and insightful discussion.  

About the Speakers

Holden Triplett is a founder of Trenchcoat Advisors, a firm that helps businesses protect themselves from nation-state threats. From 2017 to 2018, Holden was the Director for Counterintelligence at the National Security Council. He led the FBI office in Beijing from 2014 to 2017 and was deputy head of the FBI office in Moscow from 2012 to 2014. Holden was also the FBI Faculty Chair at the National Intelligence University, where he taught courses in Counterintelligence, National Security Law, and Intelligence, and Chinese Intelligence and Information Warfare. He is currently an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service.

Podcast host Allan Marks is one of the world's leading project finance lawyers. He advises developers, investors, lenders, and underwriters around the world in the development and financing of complex energy and infrastructure projects, as well as related acquisitions, restructurings and capital markets transactions. Many of his transactions relate to ESG and sustainability, innovative clean technologies, and sophisticated contractual risk allocation. Allan serves as an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley at the Law School and previously at the Haas School of Business.

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For more information and insights, follow us on social media and podcast platforms, including Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeart, Google and Audible.

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What do law students today think about values, workplace culture, technology, privacy, work/life balance, and conflicting opinions?  Host Allan Marks explores these issues in a candid, wide-ranging roundtable discussion with five 2023 summer associates at Milbank:  Heaven Johnson-Branch; Konstantina Katsimeni; Harrison Makaruk; Isabela Motta; and Vishnu Nagireddy.  They also share their experiences and opinions on related, timely topics:

• How new technologies (such as AI and blockchain) and shifting privacy norms will influence the practice of law in the next decade
• What aspiring law students should know about building relationships of trust with mentors and peers
• How law schools succeed or miss the mark in preparing law students for diverse legal careers
  
  

About the Speakers:

 Heaven Johnson-Branch is a law student at Georgetown University Law Center.

 Konstantina Katsimeni is a law student at Columbia Law School.

 Harrison Makaruk is a law student at Harvard Law School.

 Isabela Motta is a law student at University of Chicago Law School.

 Vishnu Nagireddy is a law student at Northwestern University - Pritzker School of Law.
 
 Podcast host  Allan Marks  is one of the world's leading project finance lawyers. He advises developers, investors, lenders, and underwriters around the world in the development and financing of complex energy and infrastructure projects, as well as related acquisitions, restructurings and capital markets transactions. Many of his transactions relate to ESG and sustainability, innovative clean technologies, and sophisticated contractual risk allocation. Allan serves as an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley at the Law School and previously at the Haas School of Business.

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The justice gap represents the difference between the civil legal assistance available to low-income individuals and the assistance that they need. Alexander (“Alex”) Forger, former Chairman and retired partner at Milbank, has spent much of his career ensuring that working-class people have equal access to legal representation and that the federal Legal Services Corporation (LSC) – which he headed – can thrive as an essential resource to fund pro bono legal services nationally.  Now 100 years old, Alex remains outspoken about what it takes to make the justice system fair.  Host Allan Marks talks with Alex about his longstanding dedication to helping others and what drives this top Wall Street trusts and estates lawyer to fight for those less privileged.  Topics they cover include: 

• Successfully challenging opponents in Congress to preserve the LSC – what it means to protect equal access to legal representation for poor people
• The critical role of lawyers in expanding justice and democracy – and why it is morally imperative to do so 
• The value of pro bono work – both to volunteer or public interest attorneys and to the indigent clients they serve
• Career advice – for younger lawyers and for retired lawyers alike

 About the Speakers
Alex Forger is a World War II veteran and renowned trusts and estates lawyer who has represented several well-known clients, including Jacqueline Onassis, Rachel “Bunny” Mellon, as well as the Johnson, Duke and Rockefeller families. Under his leadership as Chairman, Milbank was the first law firm in New York City to offer same-sex partner benefits in 1992. Alex served as President of the New York State Bar Association, as director, president and chair of the New York Legal Aid Society, and on countless committees for minority advancement, gay rights and HIV anti-discrimination initiatives, legal services for the poor, and campaign finance reform. He institutionalized Milbank’s pro bono program, which has set a model for other top law firms nationally. After four decades in private practice, Alex went to Washington to serve under President Bill Clinton as president of the Legal Services Corporation, a federally funded program that gives poor people meaningful access to the courts and qualified legal representation. 

Podcast host Allan Marks is one of the world's leading project finance lawyers. He advises developers, investors, lenders, and underwriters around the world in the development and financing of complex energy and infrastructure projects, as well as related acquisitions, restructurings and capital markets transactions. Many of his transactions relate to ESG and sustainability, innovative clean technologies, and sophisticated contractual risk allocation. Allan serves as an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley at the Law School and previously at the Haas School of Business.

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ESG #15: Treaties and international tribunals interpreting and applying those treaties can impact how governments behave and how companies invest, bringing about concrete effects in the real world. Today, international courts are being summoned to answer questions about responsibility and liability for climate change impacts under international law. In December 2022, the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law asked the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea for an advisory opinion. In March 2023, the UN General Assembly asked the ICJ for an advisory opinion on state responsibilities to mitigate climate change. The decisions of these panels could have far-reaching effects, influencing climate change litigation in regional tribunals and national courts. They will shape and maybe accelerate global initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to adapt to climate change, and to compensate for losses and damages.  In this newest episode, Milbank partner Viren Mascarenhas speaks with host Allan Marks about what’s at stake in international climate change litigation. They discuss the potential impact of international climate change litigation decisions on economic policies and environmental laws, and explore the complex interrelationships among international courts, multilateral treaties and bilateral investment treaties.

 About the Speakers
 Viren Mascarenhas is a partner in Milbank’s NY office and a member of the firm’s Litigation & Arbitration Group. He specializes in international arbitration, public international law, and business and human rights. He has nearly two decades of experience acting as counsel in domestic and international arbitration proceedings under the major institutional arbitral rules as well as ad hoc arbitral rules in a broad range of industries, including chemicals, energy (LNG, oil, nuclear, electricity, power, renewables), and mining and metals. He teaches international arbitration at Columbia Law School, is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, sits as arbitrator, and has been recognized for his accomplishments in the field by the major directories, including Chambers and Legal 500.
 
Podcast host Allan Marks is one of the world's leading project finance lawyers. He advises developers, investors, lenders, and underwriters around the world in the development and financing of complex energy and infrastructure projects, as well as related acquisitions, restructurings and capital markets transactions. Many of his transactions relate to ESG and sustainability, innovative clean technologies, and sophisticated contractual risk allocation. Allan serves as an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley at the Law School.

For more information and insights, follow us on social media and podcast platforms, including Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeart, Google and Audible.

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ESG #14:  By 2030, renewables (mainly wind and solar power) are forecast to generate most of Europe’s power and almost half the power in the US and China. Other sectors – like transportation and heavy industry – are also decarbonizing. What drives this energy transition away from fossil fuels toward cleaner energy sources and greater energy efficiency? New regulations are discouraging greenhouse gas emissions, and government policies and market forces are stimulating massive new investment in clean technologies and green energy. Energy security threats and price volatility associated with vulnerable fossil fuel supply chains and climate risks have become more evident. But inflation, rising interest rates and ambivalent politics are still capable of hindering this fundamental shift in how the planet generates and uses energy.

In this new episode, The Energy Transition in Europe and the United States: “Blue Skies Ahead?,” Project, Energy and Infrastructure Finance Group partners Matt Brown and Allan Marks compare notes on the energy transition and the state of the market in the US, the UK and Europe. They analyze in detail some of the tailwinds accelerating green investment (including European climate regulations and the US Inflation Reduction Act), affected technologies (including green steel, natural gas and LNG, hydrogen, renewables, nuclear power, batteries and mining), and the role of different sources of capital (including cross-border investment, private credit funds, banks and tax equity). 

About the Speakers

Matt Brown is a partner in the Project, Energy and Infrastructure Finance Group, based in London. He represents sponsors, lenders, export credit agencies, and governments on all aspects of energy and infrastructure development and finance matters world-wide. He has a significant focus on energy transition matters (including battery gigafactories, battery storage, hydrogen and other green industrial projects) as well as oil and gas, LNG, and conventional and renewable power matters.

Podcast host Allan Marks is one of the world's leading project finance lawyers. He advises developers, investors, lenders, and underwriters around the world in the development and financing of complex energy and infrastructure projects, as well as related acquisitions, restructurings and capital markets transactions. Many of his transactions relate to ESG and sustainability, innovative clean technologies, and sophisticated contractual risk allocation. 

For more information and insights, follow us on social media and podcast platforms, including Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeart, Google and Audible.

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