Van Ness Feldman is pleased to announce that Jim Curry has joined Van Ness Feldman as an associate attorney.  Jim comes to the firm from the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) where he served in the Office of Chief Counsel focusing on pipeline safety.  Jim’s technical and substantive expertise and appreciation of the agency’s regulatory objectives and compliance expectations nicely augment the firm’s pipeline safety practice.

At PHMSA, Jim represented the agency in the administrative enforcement of hazardous liquid and gas pipeline safety laws and regulations, with a focus on matters in Alaska and the western states.  Jim served as a hearing officer at informal agency adjudications and drafted recommended decisions.  He was also involved in agency rulemakings, drafting regulatory interpretations, reviewing special permit applications and decisional documents, and evaluating congressional testimony. 

In addition, Jim has experience with complex pipeline litigation involving claims under the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and the Pipeline Safety Act and with the unique issues facing pipelines in Alaska and the various state and federal agencies involved in that region. 

“We are extremely fortunate to have Jim join our team.  Pipeline safety is a major public policy issue currently pending before Congress and federal and state regulators, and Jim’s prior employment at PHMSA will bring invaluable knowledge and experience to our pipeline safety practice on behalf of our natural gas, crude oil and refined products pipelines representations,” said Curt Moffatt, Van Ness Feldman’s Oil and Gas Practice Coordinator.

Jim, 32, graduated from Seton Hall University School of Law and Boston University.  He can be reached at 202.298.1831 or via email at jbc@vnf.com.  

With 80 professionals in Washington, D.C. and Seattle, WA, Van Ness Feldman focuses on law and policy relating to:  Electricity; Energy Efficiency and Smart Grid; Environment; Climate Change; Renewable Energy, Cleantech, and Biofuels; Coal and CCS; Natural Gas; Nuclear Energy; Hydropower; Infrastructure Development; Indian Law; Oil & Products Pipelines; Public Lands & Natural Resources; and Transportation.

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