DLA Piper welcomes Andrew Westgate to the Project & Energy practice

DLA Piper is pleased to welcome environmental transactions attorney Andrew Westgate as a partner in the Project & Energy practice in New York.

Westgate focuses his practice on carbon credits and other environmental credits, including regulatory advice, commercial contracts and bespoke structures for investment in the carbon space. He regularly advises on project development and carbon credit generation for carbon offset, carbon removal and carbon capture and sequestration projects.

Additionally, he also has extensive knowledge of carbon financial product structuring, regulatory compliance, credit stacking, negotiation and drafting of project development and carbon offtake agreements.

He most recently served as in-house counsel for a leading carbon hedge fund, serving as lead counsel for all carbon credit matters. During his tenure, Westgate managed regulatory matters for the largest compliance credit portfolio in the marketplace with more than US$1.4 billion in assets under management invested in carbon and developed new financial structures to offer access to California’s carbon market to different categories of investors, including a first-in-market secured lending facility backed by California Carbon Allowances.

“Andrew’s arrival comes at a pivotal point of growth for global carbon offsets, and his extensive skillset will be crucial to meeting the demands of the marketplace,” said Robert Gruendel, global co-chair of DLA Piper’s Energy and Natural Resources sector and chair of the US Project Finance practice. “We are excited to have him on board where he will be a significant asset in supporting our clients and expanding our team’s capabilities.”

“Andrew’s hands-on industry experience will be a major advantage in securing more carbon-specific transactional work, and his background and experience will support the firm in bridging our Americas-China opportunities,” said Cara Edwards, office managing partner of DLA Piper’s New York office. 

In 2022, DLA Piper was ranked in the “Renewable/Alternative Power” category by The Legal 500 US and was ranked by The Legal 500 Green Guide as a “Featured Law Firm.” In addition, for the second consecutive year, DLA Piper’s renewable energy team was named the number one global renewable energy legal advisor by inspiratia. 

DLA Piper’s Energy lawyers represent companies, developers, financial institutions and other investors and other participants in the renewable, power, oil and gas, nuclear, energy trading, climate change and water markets.