HOUSTON (LAWFUEL) – Internationally known clean tech leader Paul Dickerson has rejoined Haynes and Boone, LLP as a Houston-based partner to lead the firm’s Clean Tech Practice Group. This practice group will work with venture capital and private equity firms as well as the emerging leaders in bio-fuels, solar, wind and other new energy technologies, providing multidisciplinary legal services and support in dealing with the Obama Administration’s energy team.
Mr. Dickerson, a lawyer and CPA, left Haynes and Boone in 2005 to take a post with the Department of Commerce, then was appointed chief operating officer for Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) inside the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Mr. Dickerson oversaw the EERE’s $1.8 billion budget and 1,000-member staff charged with leading the development and commercialization of alternative and renewable energy technologies.
“The selection of Dr. Steven Chu as Energy Secretary, with his background in clean tech research, ensures that the federal government is taking this new industry sector seriously,” Mr. Dickerson said. “That doesn’t guarantee an easy road ahead, but I believe that Haynes and Boone has put together a team uniquely qualified to provide the guidance and support clean tech companies will need to thrive.”
Sharing the group leadership role is Houston-based partner Chris Wolfe.
“Paul’s rich experience in this field will be invaluable to the firm and, most importantly, to our clients,” said Mr. Wolfe. “Nobody knows more than Paul about the pressing needs of the global energy market and the available real-world solutions. I look forward to working with him in leading this new practice.”
Managing Partner Terry Conner said it is gratifying that Mr. Dickerson, a native Houstonian, will be returning to his home town as a Haynes and Boone partner. “It has been uplifting to watch Paul serve our nation so enthusiastically these last several years,” Mr. Conner said. “It’s exciting to have him back on board. He’s an exceptionally bright lawyer with a keen business sense. Those superb traits will help propel our new Clean Tech Practice quickly to national prominence.”
Mr. Dickerson said he plans to spend the next year traveling internationally and domestically to promote the firm’s new practice and clean tech initiatives. “We have a lot of work in front of us, but the Haynes and Boone team is as strong as any in this important, emerging area of practice,” Mr. Dickerson said. “I have no doubt that the firm will succeed in rising to top-of-mind whenever legal issues arise in this incredibly important business sector.”
Under Mr. Dickerson’s leadership, the Department of Energy fast-tracked commercialization of technology and boosted the speed at which energy solutions moved from the laboratory to the international marketplace.
Prior to joining the Department of Energy, Mr. Dickerson served as chief of staff for the United States and Foreign Commercial Service at the Department of Commerce. At the Commercial Service, he was responsible for day-to-day management of a worldwide network of 1,700 employees in 260 offices.
Mr. Dickerson is also founder and president of Dickerson Leadership Alliance, which grants awards and scholarships to elementary, middle school, and high school students who demonstrate civic involvement and leadership.
In his prior stint with Haynes and Boone, Mr. Dickerson was a corporate attorney in the Houston office, advising international and domestic clients on global business transactions. He is a graduate of the South Texas College of Law, and received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin.
Mr. Dickerson has served on numerous state and federal boards, including the Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Services and Finance Industries, Industry Sector Advisory Committee on Services for Trade Policy Matters, Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners, and the Property Tax Consultants Advisory Council.
He has been designated a Texas Super Lawyer and Texas Rising Star by Texas Monthly magazine, and a Lawyer on the Fast Track by H Magazine as one of the best up-and-coming lawyers in Houston.
Haynes and Boone, LLP is an international corporate law firm with offices in Texas, New York, Washington, D.C., Mexico City and Moscow, providing a full spectrum of legal services. With more than 500 attorneys, Haynes and Boone is ranked among the largest law firms in the nation by The National Law Journal. The firm has been recognized as one of the “Best Corporate Law Firms in America” (Corporate Board Member Magazine, 2001-2008), as one of “The Best 20 Law Firms to Work For” (Vault.com, 2008), and as a Top 100 law firm for both diversity (MultiCultural Law Magazine, 2008) and women (Women 3.0, 2008).
