McGuireWoods Pioneers Innovative Tool, Accessible Industry-Wide, to Index FERC Enforcement Actions

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May 11, 2015, 03:30 ET

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- McGuireWoods has developed an innovative, web-based legal resource that will serve as a first stop for lawyers, energy company executives and counsel, government officials and others researching Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) enforcement cases.

Members of McGuireWoods' energy industry team have created the FERC Enforcement Reporter, a free resource that catalogues enforcement actions taken since the agency's authority was dramatically expanded under the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Designed for industry-wide use, the FERC Enforcement Reporter simplifies research by logically sorting previously unorganized information so that users can quickly identify FERC enforcement cases and policy statements that address specific subjects of interest.

"Until now, there had been no legal resource that organizes the material in this area of the law by topic," said Todd Mullins, a former FERC Branch Chief who is managing partner of McGuireWoods' Washington office and chair of the firm's energy enforcement practice. "We have created a web-based tool that takes all FERC enforcement actions, regulations and policy statements and indexes them in a format that will be easily accessible and beneficial for attorneys, utilities and gas companies, other energy companies, and even FERC itself."

The FERC Enforcement Reporter is available as an online flipbook to be updated as the law unfolds. It includes a digest feature that will help researchers seeking information on a particular area of the law, such as FERC enforcement procedures, violations and penalties. It also contains an index feature that lists key search terms in alphabetical order and provides pinpoint citations to paragraphs of FERC cases that deal with those terms.

There is no charge or fee to use the FERC Enforcement Reporter. Users can sign up for access to the FERC Enforcement Reporter at the following link: www.mcguirewoods.com/FERC-Enforcement-Reporter.

Though McGuireWoods lawyers developed the tool, they will treat the FERC Enforcement Reporter as an industry document and welcome input from users interested in providing updates to the guide. The firm will credit contributors on its website and in written updates to the guide. The firm will offer a complimentary webinar for users on May 21, 2015. Registration information and more details about the webinar are available on the firm's website. Thereafter, McGuireWoods will offer free tutorials on the FERC Enforcement Reporter upon request.

Mullins, McGuireWoods partner Noel Symons and associate Chris McEachran led the development of the FERC Enforcement Reporter.

Before joining McGuireWoods, Mullins was branch chief at FERC's Office of Enforcement Division of Investigation in Washington from 2006 to 2010. There, he led cases and policy development for FERC under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, including market manipulation cases, electric reliability matters and the development of FERC's first Penalty Guidelines.

Symons co-leads the utility practice of McGuireWoods' energy industry team. He represents electric utilities and other energy companies before FERC and appellate courts and advises clients on cross-jurisdictional matters involving other regulatory bodies.

McEachran is a member of the firm's Government, Regulatory and Criminal Investigations Department. He represents individuals and corporate clients in investigations by FERC and other government agencies.

McGuireWoods LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 1,000 lawyers in 21 offices worldwide. For more information, visit www.mcguirewoods.com. Its full-service public affairs arm, McGuireWoods Consulting LLC, offers infrastructure and economic development, strategic communications and grassroots advocacy, and government relations solutions.

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SOURCE McGuireWoods