Regulated Industry M&A Transactions: Special Considerations and Recent Developments

Mark is senior vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer for Spire, advising the board of directors, CEO and senior management on legal matters that affect Spire and its subsidiaries. Mark joined Spire as general counsel in 2004.

Before joining Spire, Mark gained more than 30 years of experience in the energy industry. He served for 12 years in various executive legal and non-legal roles at NiSource Inc., Columbia Energy Group and New Jersey Resources Corporation. Previously, Mark was in private law practice in Washington, D.C. before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the DC Public Service Commission. Mark earned his bachelor’s in political science from Syracuse University and his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. In 2014, Mark was recognized as one of the “Nation’s Most Influential Minority Attorneys” on the Lawyer of Color’s Power List and a "Diverse Business Leader" by the St. Louis Business Journal. He is budget officer and vice chair of the Gas and Corporate Governance Committees of the American Bar Association’s Infrastructure and Regulated Industries Section, past chair of the American Gas Association’s Legal Committee, a member of the Energy Bar Association, and serves on the advisory boards of the Corporate Counsel Institute at Georgetown University Law Center and the Financial Research Institute at the University of Missouri. He also serves on the boards of Mercy Hospital St. Louis, United Way of Greater Saint Louis and serves as vice chair of Easter Seals Midwest.

Linda S. Stein, a partner in Steptoe’s Washington office, assists clients, primarily in the railroad industry, in regulatory proceedings before the Surface Transportation Board (STB), as well as complex civil litigation and arbitration. She is the practice group leader of the firm’s Transportation Group.

Ms. Stein is nationally recognized for her skill in providing innovative solutions to the challenges that her clients face in this highly regulated industry. She serves as chair of the Railroad Committee in the American Bar Association's Section of Public Utility, Communications and Transportation Law, and is ranked in the category of Transportation Law by The Best Lawyers in America.

Catherine McCarthy has represented clients on energy regulation and policy matters for more than two decades. Cathy currently chairs Bracewell's Energy Regulatory Department. Her experience includes obtaining Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and state authorizations for major projects and transactions; FERC compliance and enforcement matters; FERC transmission and centralized markets issues; and rate, tariff and refund matters. She also represents energy clients before the Department of Energy, the Federal Communications Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Cathy has been recognized as one America’s Leading Lawyers for Energy Law by Chambers USA (2010-2017) and Chambers Global (2014-2017); selected as one of The American Lawyer’s 45 Under 45 (2011); and included in The Legal 500 United States, Energy: Regulatory (2011-2013, 2016-2017).