< Previous20 ONE McGUIREWOODS | Summer 2021 How did you come to join McGuireWoods and what did you do at the firm? A friend of mine knew I was looking for a firm that was inclusive, friendly and had mentoring abilities, because I was a first-year associate at that point. She recommended debt finance at McGuireWoods and introduced me to submitted my résumé, interviewed and that’s how I landed at McGuireWoods. I had an offer from a different firm when I was interviewing with McGuireWoods, but after meeting folks in the debt finance group, I felt I’d have a much better experience at McGuireWoods. Everyone was nice and welcoming. There were people of color and a lot of women who were partners. And the firm has a sophisticated debt finance practice, so I thought that would be good exposure from a client perspective. I’d get to work with high-end clients and that held true. I’m glad I went to McGuireWoods. I was in the Charlotte office about three years. Then my husband had a job opportunity in Los Angeles. He has supported my career and I wanted to do the same for him. I was licensed to practice in North Carolina, California and New York and my sister lives in LA, so I transferred to the firm’s downtown Los Angeles office. Everything aligned. In LA, I got to know partner and well. We had great camaraderie and I still keep in touch with them. Is there one memory that stands out during your time at the firm? As a junior associate, partner Rebecca Chaffin was my mentor in Charlotte. I remember having a challenging week and she reinforced that, even though I was working hard and doing my best, there may be times when I need to reach out for support. Everyone can feel overwhelmed at times, I just needed to speak up. She — and my informal mentor, — were there for me as a person and cared about my individual development. I had worked in environments where it wasn’t like that — it was the opposite. I was surrounded by people who truly cared.ONE McGUIREWOODS | Summer 2021 21 “McGuireWoods taught me to problem-solve on my feet. Debt finance deals move fast and you must multitask and handle what comes. That experience was helpful to have in my toolbox.” — Jen Om, corporate counsel, The William Warren Group What factored into your decision to go in-house last year and what was that transition like? It was a number of things, mainly lifestyle factors. Plus, I wanted to broaden my practice and get more real-world experience, outside of debt finance. My transition was interesting because the day I started at WWG was the first day of pandemic lockdown. I went into the office for my first day and three people were there. I was issued a computer and then we went remote the next day. We’re still remote now. The main reason I chose WWG was because it functions like a smaller business and has a cool company culture. The pandemic put a big hiccup in my job transition, but I approached it with an open mind and figured it out. McGuireWoods taught me to problem-solve on my feet. Debt finance deals move fast and you must multitask and handle what comes. That experience was helpful to have in my toolbox.22 ONE McGUIREWOODS | Summer 2021 What is a typical day like at WWG? WWG acquires and develops self-storage properties either through a syndicate or with capital partners. We enter into joint ventures with the capital partners — they’ll provide 95 percent of the funds to acquire properties and we’ll be the managing member doing the day-to-day business, like property management and sourcing deals. We handle a lot of finance-related work — some of the land acquisitions are financed through debt and if we’re going to do major capital improvements or construction, we’ll enter into a credit facility. About 30-40 percent of what I do is similar to debt finance. I’m just on the other side. At the firm, I represented institutional lenders, but now I’m part of a company that’s the borrower entering into the credit facility with a bank. The other 60 percent of my job is addressing operational matters such as tenant issues, property management agreements, retail and cell tower leases, and purchase agreements for real estate. If tenants allege consumer violations, I respond to those as well. Or if someone breaks an elevator at one of our facilities — people tend to hold elevator doors open because they’re loading stuff in and out — legal action may be needed. What advice would you give other lawyers considering going in-house? Don’t rush the decision. Evaluate the reasons you want to go in-house. I feel lucky that I found this opportunity at WWG, because it matches my lifestyle and the kind of work I’m interested in. But giving yourself time and being honest about the reasons you want to go in-house are important. How can law firms and companies foster diversity and inclusion in the legal industry? It’s a twofold approach: recruiting and hiring diverse candidates. Plus, it’s important to have a voice in the legal industry and in the broader community, sharing opinions and concerns about the issues that minority communities face. Be more outspoken about hate crimes and racial inequality, especially against communities that are not largely recognized, such as the Asian community. A big reason I joined McGuireWoods over other firms was because at McGuireWoods I interviewed with people who are Asian-Americans and part of the Charlotte Asian Pacific American Bar Association. At every Charlotte APABA meeting, at least 40-50 percent of the attorneys were from McGuireWoods. It was great, especially in a place like Charlotte, in the South, where there isn’t a big Asian population. Firms should work together in the community and make a collective effort to support groups like Charlotte APABA. It helps to foster diversity and inclusion when there are people in the firm who look like you or have a similar experience. It makes you feel more comfortable — like you belong. ONE McGUIREWOODS | Summer 2021 23 ONE McGUIREWOODS | Summer 2021 23 Four Things to Know About Jen Om She substituted surfing for soccer: “I started surfing after hanging up my soccer cleats. I played soccer collegiately, semiprofessionally and at the national level, but I had to give it up due to injuries. There is nothing like being in the ocean and catching a wave. It’s meditative and addictive and keeps me fit.” She loves her Goldendoodle: “Deco, my 9-year-old Goldendoodle, is named after one of my favorite soccer players growing up (he played for Porto, Barcelona, and then, sadly, Chelsea). Deco the dog has been with me since law school and has provided, and continues to provide, lots of emotional support.” She craves food adventure: “Growing up, my family explored cultures and cuisines from all over the world. LA has some of the best ethnic food in the United States, and one of my favorite things is to get lost in traditionally ethnic neighborhoods and try authentic dishes. Some of our favorites are Korean, Thai, Taiwanese and Japanese.” She hopes to travel to Cambodia: “My family is Cambodian. Growing up, there wasn’t a large Cambodian community where we lived in Northern Virginia. One of my goals is to travel to Cambodia with my parents as much as possible so I can learn more about the culture and pass on the Buddhist and Khmer traditions to my children.” 24 ONE McGUIREWOODS | Summer 2021 FERC AND FAMILY McNamee arrived at FERC with stellar credentials in 2018, after being nominated by President Trump and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He had served in senior policy roles at the state and federal levels, including on Capitol Hill and with the U.S. Department of Energy. He also had deep experience advising electric and natural gas utilities during two stints as a partner at McGuireWoods in Richmond. But McNamee’s family had remained in Richmond while he worked in Washington, D.C. As he considered his next career move in 2020, he felt the tug of home. “As I said at the time, I loved my job at FERC, but I love my family more,” he says. FULL CIRCLE After Serving in Government, Bernie McNamee Returns to McGuireWoods was approaching the end of his term as a commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last year when he declined a White House offer to nominate him for another term at the agency that regulates federal aspects of electricity, oil and natural gas. ONE McGUIREWOODS | Summer 2021 25 McNamee’s homecoming included a return to McGuireWoods, this time as a law firm partner and senior adviser with McGuireWoods Consulting. He focuses on providing strategic legal and policy advice on energy issues, including legislation, rulemaking, strategic planning and policy development. He assists firm clients with issues before Congress, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency and FERC, as well as regional transmission organizations and independent system operators. McNamee is seen as an energy policy leader, having been quoted in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, regarding the winter storm in Texas, and has become a sought-after speaker to companies and associations in the energy industry. “It’s great to be back at McGuireWoods because there are so many fantastic attorneys and consultants here,” he says, citing the firm’s comprehensive regulatory, transactional and litigation capabilities for energy industry clients, as well as its top-notch consultants. “Through McGuireWoods Consulting, we’re involved with what’s happening in Congress with new energy and environmental policy; we’re involved with the Biden administration as they are proposing new ideas,” he explains. “We have a great federal FERC team involved in really important issues to our electric and gas clients. We have lawyers who deal in state rate cases, proceedings to get generation certificates, to figure out integrated resource planning and we have a large footprint throughout the country. We have lawyers doing financing for renewables and other energy projects. All these things make McGuireWoods special because we’re able to provide clients with insights and service over the entire energy space.” McNamee first joined McGuireWoods in 2006 after serving as Virginia’s chief deputy attorney general. BERNIE MCNAMEE ONE McGUIREWOODS | Summer 2021 2526 ONE McGUIREWOODS | Summer 2021 “McGuireWoods had always been an important law firm providing representation for clients involved in so many of the important policy and legal issues in Virginia,” he says. “And when it was time to leave the attorney general’s office, I was looking at a number of places to go and McGuireWoods was at the top of the list.” McNamee says he was encouraged to join the firm’s energy team by then-partner Ed Flippen and Tom Farrell, then the top executive at Dominion Energy and a former McGuireWoods partner. “That had a huge influence on me and I came to McGuireWoods and ended up being a partner for about seven-and-a-half years. It was a fantastic experience being on the energy team representing electric and gas utilities, primarily before the Virginia State Corporation Commission and the North Carolina Utilities Commission.” McNamee was recruited to work on energy issues because of his experience in the Virginia AG’s office and his understanding of the state’s legislative process and political landscape. But he also learned a great deal about energy and utilities law from McGuireWoods colleagues such as Flippen, and Richmond partners Stephen Watts (now “When I first joined the firm and started working in the energy sector, especially for electric and gas utilities, it was an incredible opportunity and incredible education to work with so many great lawyers who helped introduce me to electric utilities,” he says. “I was able to work on a number of important, complex cases.” McNamee returned to public service in 2013. A friend had become chief of staff to newly elected U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and recruited McNamee, who grew up in Texas, to serve as the senator’s energy counsel. McNamee went on to serve as Cruz’s chief domestic policy adviser until the senator entered the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Rather than join the campaign, McNamee moved to Texas to become chief of staff to state Attorney General Ken Paxton. In that role, he led Texas’ efforts in a 24-state coalition challenging the EPA’s controversial Clean Power Plan. McNamee returned to Virginia in 2016 and rejoined McGuireWoods as counsel in the Regulatory & Compliance Department. But public service pulled him away again a year and a half later. ONE McGUIREWOODS | Summer 2021 27 After Trump’s election, there was a need for experienced policy experts in the new administration and McNamee became deputy general counsel for energy policy in the Department of Energy. He had a broad portfolio, working on issues ranging from liquefied natural gas exports to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to electricity transmission and reliability. He also prepared the department’s senior leadership, including the energy secretary, for congressional hearings. He later became executive director in DOE’s Office of Policy before his appointment to FERC in 2018. McNamee says the perspective he gained representing clients at McGuireWoods made him a more effective government official. “There are practical issues that often get lost in Washington but are vitally important to ensuring that a policy can be implemented effectively for the benefit of the companies and for customers and taxpayers,” he says. “So I can’t emphasize enough that what I learned as a practicing attorney at McGuireWoods and working with great clients helped educate me and make me a better policy adviser and regulator at the federal level.” Now, his government experience makes him a more effective adviser for McGuireWoods’ clients, he says. “I know certain nuances in the law or in regulations I might not have known otherwise,” he says. “I’m able to identify certain people who are key to decision-making, able to provide insights about why decisions sometimes end up the way they do — and sometimes they’re not for the obvious reasons. So I feel blessed that in my career I’ve been given an opportunity to see the different sides of the policymaking and the legal- making coin, and be able to provide benefits to the firm’s clients, but also benefits to the American people.” It’s great to be back at McGuireWoods because there are so many fantastic attorneys and consultants here,” Bernie McNamee says.28 ONE McGUIREWOODS | Summer 2021 28 ONE McGUIREWOODS | Summer 2021 McGuireWoods was one of five civilian members who served on an independent review committee that conducted an extensive investigation of the command climate and culture at Fort Hood, as they relate to sexual assault, harassment and crime. The panel released its Dec. 8, 2020, and members testified before the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel the following day. FORT HOOD REPORTONE McGUIREWOODS | Summer 2021 29 The review was prompted by questions and concerns raised by family members, Congress and various Hispanic advocacy groups during the investigation of the disappearance and murder of Spc. Vanessa Guillén, according to an Army news release. Committee members conducted a two-week fact-finding mission at Fort Hood, meeting with unit leaders, soldiers, members of the Guillén family, local officials, law enforcement and community groups. The report contains findings and recommendations intended to benefit Fort Hood and the entire Army. The report’s release received national news coverage, including stories by the news conference announcing the committee’s findings, Reuters quoted Harmon saying he heard repeatedly from platoon sergeants and squad leaders that they did not have time to get to know their soldiers. “For those of us who had served in the military before, that was very, very shocking,” said Harmon, a West Point graduate who served as a first lieutenant in the Army’s 1st Cavalry Division during Operation Desert Storm. included excerpts of Harmon’s responses in the Dec. 9, 2020, House subcommittee hearing. Harmon told the subcommittee that the Army’s firing or suspension of 14 Fort Hood leaders would not be enough to address problems identified in the report. “It’s going to take a lot more work, a lot more oversight,” Harmon said. “I think as everybody recognizes, changing culture is hard. And it doesn’t come from just firing 14 people. And our report, I think, was very clear that the problems at Fort Hood were not the result of one commander, they were not the result of one administration.” Source: https://www.defense.gov/observe/photo-gallery/igphoto/2002582247/Next >