Laura Zagar, Managing Partner at Perkins Coie LLP
Laura Zagar is the Managing Partner at the law firm of Perkins Coie LLP in San Francisco, California, and her practice focuses on multijurisdictional energy, water, and other infrastructure projects as well as complex environmental litigation.
A TRUE CALIFORNIAN
One can tell someone’s true passions by what they do on their days off from their challenging work. On Laura’s time outside from the law firm, she is on the Board of Trustees for the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, which supports the work of the National Marine Sanctuary system. She’s on the board of advisors for the University of San Diego’s Energy Policy Initiatives Center (EPIC) as well as the Board of Directors for the Equality California Institute, the largest statewide LGBTQ rights organization in the United States. Having practiced law in Southern California and now living and working in Northern California, Laura sees the state’s energy and water network holistically from both perspectives. Watching the evolution of the state’s renewable energy goals and climate policies over a series of legislation and Executive Orders has been interesting as California private and public sectors work to do more than when then-Governor Schwarzenegger and then-Governor Brown significantly increased California’s renewable energy goals.
REGULATORY WORK IN CLEAN ENERGY
Laura has represented utilities, energy developers, and other clients in proceedings before the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and other regulatory bodies and has advised them on what is needed to achieve regulatory approvals for their projects to be developed.
One of the more memorable projects she’s worked on was her client’s construction of a new transmission line, which in part included decommissioning of an old transmission line and building a new one. One of the greatest challenges of this project was the timing of bringing portions of the old line off the grid and completing the construction of the portion before the state’s energy use increased during the summer. There is a short window of time to take the line off the grid, which is when the load is relatively low, minimizing stress on the grid. Often, however, there would be biological considerations, such as nesting birds, which would constrain work on the project during this window of time. Laura and her team negotiated with key wildlife agencies, such as the US Fish and Wildlife Service and California Department of Fish and Game, resolved the tension between the biological considerations and the need to get the line constructed. In the end, the project was able to move forward with some creativity.
Currently, Laura is advising on the decommissioning and removal of a series of hydroelectric dams along the Klamath River in California. Laura represents a special purpose non-profit created to execute the removal of the dams, a project that is widely supported by the States of Oregon and California, environmental groups, and tribes that support the restoration of the Klamath River. This dam removal project is the largest and most ambitious dam removal project in United States history and will open up 400 river miles of habitat to salmon, trout, and eels for the first time in decades. Environmental organizations and Native American tribes in the Klamath River Basin hope for a restoration of a strong salmon run after the dams are removed.
A HISTORY THAT BUILDS
Though Laura grew up in central Ohio and was a competitive swimmer, growing up with a special needs sister and watching her parents struggle with the health care system and medical insurance inspired her to be a be lawyer and learn the how the legal system worked. When she attended UCLA Law School, she intended to go into entertainment and sports law. But at her first law job at the large global law firm Latham & Watkins, a new matter came in relating to a transmission line project in Southern California. Laura thought the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project, which involved the construction of 173 miles of new transmission lines for wind farms and other generating units from Kern County to Los Angeles County, was fascinating. Laura’s work on this project began her journey in expanding her expertise in energy law. After over nine years at Latham & Watkins and becoming a partner there, Laura moved to the law firm of Perkins Coie, where she’s been a partner since 2014 and she now serves as the managing partner of the firm’s San Francisco office.
Laura comes from a family of engineers who enjoys building things, while Laura is drawn to history and politics. She loves the human and political dynamics of the field and enjoys explaining what she does to the public who are not engineers. She picks up a lot of information about the industry through her clients, industry contacts, and trade journals. On any particular project, she often works with a large team of consultants like engineers, transmission planners, internal resources, biologists, and more, she learns from many people of all expertise. She often advises her more science and engineering based clients to “speak English” instead of the technical jargon they typically use. If she doesn’t understand it, she can’t explain it or put it on paper to other non-technical stakeholders and decision makers. Laura ultimately believes that not having a technical background has been helpful to her career because someone needs to be able to translate the technical aspects of these important projects to the public.
WORKING WITH WOMEN
The energy industry is generally male-dominated, especially in the earlier years of her practice in this area. She has observed progress in some sectors of the industry in part because the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) – a government agency which regulates the state’s utilities and assures access to reliable utility infrastructure and services like electric, natural gas, telecommunications, and water among others - has issued diversity goals. Utilities must employ a diverse work force and justify from whom they are purchasing project materials, which has driven diversity in this sector of the industry. Laura observed that many of the in-house counsel at utilities are women, and more female engineers are joining the industry. There is still significant progress to be made, particularly on the generation side of the industry, but Laura is seeing more progress on diversification of the industry, particularly in the younger ranks.
Indeed, one of Laura’s favorite things about being in the energy field is the amount of support she has from other women in the industry, who act as mentors and accountability partners. “We call each other regularly and touch base to make sure we are believing in ourselves and taking advantage of opportunities we would normally talk ourselves out of. One colleague was wavering on whether to seek a position but we told her she’d be able to handle the situation, giving her examples of her own experience and the support she had access to. High achieving women have fears too, even the distinguished ones.” Laura noted that she and her women colleagues often remind each other that the answer is always no unless you ask.
Some of her favorite advice to women joining the renewable energy space is to reach out to women’s groups, form a bond with the many brilliant women in the field. Because energy projects often take so long to develop, you earn a level of trust with the women she has worked with as clients and colleagues. The nature of building these projects together leads to a natural bond among colleagues, particularly amongst the women on these teams.
THE FUTURE IS BIGGER AND BRIGHTER
Laura is passionate about leading large infrastructure projects for climate change and resiliency. She likes how she can see the pieces fitting together. When asked what she’ll be doing in five years, she responded that her best advice she goes by is from a friend who asked her, “What is your highest and best use? Figure that out, and that’s what you should put all your energy in.” Laura recently thought about that question and says that her talent is keeping stakeholders happy with her negotiation skills by being able to see other people’s perspectives and reminding them of their goals in getting projects built. So for the foreseeable future, she will continue building those networks in the field and be part of the teams that help get renewable energy projects built.
On a more global viewpoint, Laura says the world is changing and the business models in the energy industry are also changing. It’s hard for the regulations and laws to keep up with these rapid changes, especially relating to energy production and storage. She looks forward to a more fluid movement of energy between cities and more consistencies between federal and state rules. These are all difficult things to plan for in development and operations when project contracts are often ten years or longer and the technologies change over time, but the challenges are also what make her job fun. Both within and outside the office, Laura Zagar is focused on improving the world by helping overcome environmental challenges and righting social injustices through her volunteer work. There’s no better place to be than where she is, doing what she does.