Brownstein Announces New Leadership and New Shareholder to its Energy, Environment & Resource Strategies Group

Oct 04, 2017 - Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck is pleased to announce that  Jon Hrobsky and  Luke Johnson, both policy directors, will lead the firm’s  Energy, Environment & Resource Strategies (EERS) Group. The EERS Group also added  William “Bill” McGrath, shareholder, to its roster. He has substantial depth in natural resources matters and extensive experience in project reviews and approvals and congressional oversight. “Jon and Luke’s experience with these issues make them ideal candidates to lead our EERS team driving these highly complex matters toward successful permitting and approval outcomes for our clients,” said  Adam Agron, Brownstein’s managing partner. “We have found that the multidisciplinary approach of the EERS team provides a distinct advantage for our clients.” Hrobsky’s extensive experience at the Department of the Interior in the Office of the Secretary and as the deputy director for policy and planning of the U.S. Minerals Management Service gives Jon an unmatched perspective from which to counsel his clients. Hrobsky is well versed in the nuances of policy and politics that affect his clients. He has played a key role in crafting policy and shaping legislation for some of the major issues affecting energy production and natural resources in the United States. He works on matters across the energy, environment and natural resources spectrum—from oil and gas, renewable energy, utilities, water and mining, to clean air, public lands and the Endangered Species Act. Johnson is a former deputy director for policy and programs and chief of staff for the Bureau of Land Management. He also previously served as chief of congressional and legislative affairs for the Bureau of Reclamation and served as a senior advisor on natural resource issues in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources. On behalf of his clients, he provides sophisticated analysis and strategy in achieving key project permitting and approvals, as well as regulatory and legislative outcomes within key executive branch agencies and the Congress. Most recently, McGrath served as staff director for the Interior, Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, where he worked on some of the country’s most high-profile natural resources matters. For example, he led oversight efforts regarding the promulgation of numerous U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of the Interior regulations, including the renewable fuel standard and the clean water rule, and served as the lead investigator into numerous other natural resource matters. He also served as legislative counsel for Safari Club International (SCI) where he represented SCI in environmental and Administrative Procedures Act cases involving the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and developed various policy positions. McGrath earned his law degree from the George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School and his bachelor’s degrees at Williams College.