Van Ness Feldman is a law and government relations firm specializing in energy, environment and natural resources law with offices in Washington D.C., Seattle, the San Francisco Bay Area, Houston and Baton Rouge.
History
Founded in Washington, D.C. in 1977 by four former congressional and executive branch counsel, Van Ness Feldman has grown to include over 100 lawyers and policy professionals in their Washington, D.C., Seattle, Bay Area, Houston and Baton Rouge offices.
Two of the firm's original founders, William J. "Bill" Van Ness Jr. and Howard Feldman worked under U.S. Senator
Henry "Scoop" Jackson. Van Ness first served as special counsel and later (beginning in 1970) as chief counsel of the
Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. During his tenure, he drafted several pieces of major environmental legislation, including the
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed into law by U.S. President, President Richard Nixon on December 18, 1971, constituting what is still the largest land claims settlement in United States history. ANCSA was intended to reso ...
(ANCSA) and the
National Environmental Policy Act
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is a United States environmental law designed to promote the enhancement of the environment. It created new laws requiring U.S. federal government agencies to evaluate the environmental impacts of ...
(NEPA).
Notable attorneys in the firm
Current Acting Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair, Willie Phillips, is an alumnus of the firm.
The late Robert (Bob) Nordhaus was a partner in the firm. Bob originally joined Van Ness Feldman in 1981, after serving three years as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s first General Counsel. He practiced with the firm until 1993, when he was appointed General Counsel of the Department of Energy by President Clinton. He rejoined the firm in 1997. In 1977, prior to his service at FERC, Bob was a member of the Energy Policy and Planning Office in the Carter White House, and served as Assistant Administrator of the Federal Energy Administration. In 1975 and 1976, he was counsel to the House Commerce Committee, and from 1963 to 1974, he was Assistant Counsel in the Legislative Counsel’s Office of the U.S. House of Representatives and was the author of Section 111(d) of the
Clean Air Act.
Former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission general counsel Doug Smith currently serves as Co-Chair of the firm, and serves alongside Nancy Macan McNally.
Former U.S. Senate Sergeant at Arms James Ziglar is Senior Counsel at the firm. Former Congressman
Norm Dicks joined the firm in 2013 as Senior Policy Advisor. In May 2015, former Senator
Mary Landrieu
Mary Loretta Landrieu ( ; born November 23, 1955) is an American entrepreneur and politician who served as a United States senator from Louisiana from 1997 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, Landrieu served as the Louisiana State Treasu ...
joined the firm as a Senior Policy Advisor.
Jack Lew, former
Secretary of the Treasury
The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
, former Director of the White House
Office of Management and Budget
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The office's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, while it also examines agency pro ...
and former
White House Chief of Staff
The White House chief of staff is the head of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, a position in the federal government of the United States.
The chief of staff is a Political appointments in the United States, politi ...
was a partner in the firm from 1988 to 1993.
References
External links
*{{Official website, https://www.vnf.com
Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)
Law firms based in Washington, D.C.