Laura Smith Morton
- Washington, D.C.
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Laura leverages her deep government and industry experience to provide clients strategies to navigate federal government policy and practices and compliance with complex regulatory requirements.
Laura Morton advises clients at all stages of energy infrastructure project development. She counsels energy companies and utilities pursuing the development of major onshore and offshore infrastructure projects, with a focus on environmental review, permitting, and natural resources. Laura’s clients seek her advice based on her deep regulatory knowledge and understanding of the intricacies of federal agency policy and practices following her long-term service across multiple federal agencies. She also leverages her industry and agency experience to counsel utilities and energy technology and manufacturing companies on strategies to navigate agency policy priorities and compliance requirements for multimillion-dollar funding and financing.
Laura previously served as the senior director for offshore wind at American Clean Power (ACP), the leading renewable energy industry trade association in the United States. Prior to joining ACP, she served as acting deputy chief of staff and senior advisor to the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where she worked on a range of issues spanning water resources and data, fisheries, aquaculture, and infrastructure permitting.
Laura’s government experience also includes serving as senior advisor in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Energy, deputy associate director for energy and climate change at the White House Council for Environmental Quality (CEQ), and a policy advisor at the Office of Management and Budget. Her work at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and CEQ included leading interagency task forces to improve federal permitting and review of large infrastructure projects, with a particular focus on complex multistate electric transmission lines. She also served on offshore energy task forces and the National Ocean Council and co-authored the 2015 Quadrennial Energy Review.
Earlier in her career, Laura spent more than a decade in private practice representing conventional energy companies in complex multidistrict litigation and in federal circuit and district court, ensuring compliance with a wide range of environmental, land use, and natural resource laws, and conducting environmental due diligence for project finance transactions.
Laura maintains a robust pro bono practice representing clients in immigration cases and civil proceedings and advising clients on a range of civil rights issues. She serves as an adjunct professor at George Washington University School of Law and frequently speaks at leading energy industry conferences. Based on her breadth of knowledge of the oceans and energy development and her commitment to science and technology, Laura was appointed in 2024 to serve as a member of the National Academy of Sciences Ocean Studies Board.
Areas of focus
Education & Credentials
Education
- The George Washington University Law School, J.D., cum laude, 1994
- London School of Economics and Political Science, M.Sc., European Studies, 1989
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, B.A., International Studies, Highest Honors; Morehead Scholar, 1988
Bar and Court Admissions
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District of Columbia
Related Employment
- American Clean Power Association, Senior Director, Policy and Regulatory Affairs, Offshore, 2019-2021
- Independent Consultant, 2017-2019
- U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Acting Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the Administrator, 2015-2017
- U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis, Senior Advisor to the Director, 2014-2015
- Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget, Policy Advisor; Council on Environmental Quality, Deputy Associate Director for Energy and Climate Change, 2012-2014
- U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Secretary; Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Senior Advisor, Renewable Energy and Transmission, 2010-2012
- Fulbright & Jaworski, Senior Counsel, 2000-2010
- U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, Senior Litigation and Appellate Counsel, 1995-2000
Clerkships
- Hon. Susan H. Black, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Professional Recognition
Ranked by Chambers USA as “America’s Leading Lawyer" for Offshore Energy, 2025
Lawdragon Green 500: Leaders in Environmental Law, 2022-2025
Secretary's Achievement Award, Issued by Secretary of Energy, 2016
Impact
Professional Leadership
- Professorial Lecturer at Law, George Washington University School of Law (adjunct faculty)
- Ocean Studies Board, National Academies of Science, Member
Professional Experience
Energy and Infrastructure Projects
Federal Environmental and Land Use Permitting and Compliance
Serves as counsel to energy companies on land use, permitting, environmental, consultation, and regulatory issues, with a focus on federal lands. Works with clients to review National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents and other reports for legal sufficiency and to build a strong administrative record.
Offshore Wind Project in the New York Bight
Serves as federal environmental and permitting counsel for project in the New York Bight. Provide policy advice and counsel on approvals required from all federal agencies and opportunities for stakeholder and tribal engagement, and advocate before federal and state agencies.
Offshore Wind Project in Massachusetts
Led policy and regulatory strategy for investor in fully permitted project. Managed firm team providing litigation, environmental, and breach of contract advice.
Offshore Wind Project in California
Serves as project counsel for proposed floating offshore wind project off the Central Coast of California, including providing advice on the intersection of offshore wind development and ocean conservation as the project will be near the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.
Offshore Wind Project in Hawaii
Serves as federal environmental and permitting counsel on a proposed 400 megawatt (MW) offshore wind project in Hawaii, which will assist Hawaii in achieving its 100% renewable energy mandate.
Offshore Wind Project in New Jersey
Provided federal regulatory and policy advice to investor in late-stage project off the coast of New Jersey.
Mid-Atlantic Transmission
Advises a transmission owner and developer on federal regulatory issues related to the PJM Interconnection/New Jersey Board of Public Utilities solicitations for transmission solutions to support the development of offshore wind energy on the Atlantic Coast.
Fossil-Fuel Power Plant for Offshore Wind and Port Development
Serves as outside counsel for power plant owner on federal environmental review and permitting issues arising from repurposing of its assets in New York and New Jersey for offshore wind project generation, onshore support, and port development.
Federal Grants and Loans
U.S. Department of Energy Funding
- Provides strategic advice to companies assessing various funding opportunities, including DOE energy and manufacturing grants and financing for utilities and sustainable aviation fuel and carbon capture projects from DOE’s Loan Programs Office (LPO).
- Assists companies in obtaining and performing grants and cooperative agreements and ensuring compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements, including DOE authorities and environmental review.
- Assists companies in obtaining financing from LPO, including preparing applications, conducting due diligence, and negotiating terms and conditions.
- Assists companies, including industrial manufacturing, battery recycling, and electric vehicle companies, in challenging DOE terminations of multimillion-dollar awards through legal proceedings and agency advocacy.
Government Relations
Administrative Rules Advocacy
Assists industrial manufacturing client in submission of comments on Environmental Protection Agency rulemaking proceedings on emissions standards and U.S. Department of the Interior rulemaking proceedings related to 2025 critical minerals list.
Requests for Information
- Assists industrial manufacturing client in submission of comments on requests for information from DOE to inform its 2026 Energy Critical Materials Assessment.
- Assists funder of startup company in commenting on DOE transmission initiatives and related agency advocacy.
Corporate
Carbon-Free Energy Procurement and Policy
Represents corporate offtakers in the negotiation of power purchase and sale agreements (both physical and virtual) for solar, wind, and other carbon-free energy resources in power markets around the United States, as well as innovative transactions related to synthetic community solar.
Litigation and Administrative Proceedings
Lead Joint Defense Counsel—False Claims Act Litigation*
Joint defense counsel for more than 300 natural gas transmission companies and other purchasers, gatherers, and transporters of gas in complex nationwide multidistrict multibillion-dollar False Claims Act (FCA) litigation alleging underpayment of royalties on federal and tribal lands due to natural gas mismeasurement. In re: Natural Gas Royalties Qui Tam Litigation, 562 F.3d 1032 (10th Cir. 2009).
Litigation Counsel in Federal Court and Before Federal Agencies*
Represented energy companies in federal court litigation and before U.S. Department of the Interior on issues regarding ownership of mineral rights, royalty disputes, and compliance with federal statutes.
DOJ Trial and Appellate Counsel*
Defended the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) against habeas corpus petitions and petitions for review brought by individuals and large classes of immigrant plaintiffs. Briefed and argued dozens of cases in both district and circuit court, leading to multiple favorable published decisions.
*Prior Experience
