Bracewell Grows Energy Team With In-House Add

Bracewell’s Jennifer Speck spoke with Texas Lawyer on joining the firm’s market-leading energy practice from Navigator CO2 Ventures.

Speck said she worked with Bracewell lawyers while at Navigator, and when a pipeline project the company was developing was canceled, she considered returning to a tax firm, but decided she wanted to use her sustainable tax credit expertise in private practice. Bracewell is a good fit, she said, because of the depth of the bench in its energy practice.

With the federal government starting to issue guidelines on tax credits through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022—which aims to support the move to a clean energy economy—Speck expects to see demand for energy transition projects to increase. She has experience working on onshore and offshore wind, solar, carbon capture, clean hydrogen and clean fuel projects.

“It’s an ever-evolving area, which kind of makes it fun for tax attorneys. By summer, fall, we will see even more tax [guidelines] provided by the government to get the tax clarity,” she said.

Elizabeth McGinley, chair of Bracewell’s tax department, said that Speck’s “significant experience” in tax credits for energy transition projects and other tax incentives strengthens the firm’s ability to assist clients with the benefits available under the IRA.