Matthew Field
Matt has extensive experience litigating cost-of-service and market power issues on behalf of petroleum and natural gas shippers before FERC and appellate courts. He assists industrial energy consumers in procuring energy supplies and counsels them on the unique issues associated with transitioning to renewable energy. Matt also advises clients on evolving regulatory issues, transactional concerns, and development initiatives associated with renewable energy and other sustainability matters.
Matt provides ongoing regulatory, compliance, and legislative advice to numerous mailers and trade associations. His experience in this area includes defending individual mailers against revenue deficiency claims and arranging Negotiated Service Agreements (NSAs) with the USPS. He serves as outside general counsel to a high-profile association and advocates for policy outcomes on its behalf. Matt represents both mailers and trade associations in disputes before the USPS and the PRC, and in federal courts.
Additionally, Matt has a strong background in administrative law and has assisted clients in navigating federal agencies, including the Department of Energy (DOE), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Department of the Interior (DOI), and the Department of State (DOS).
Experience
Representative Matters
Postal
- Won the first decision of the PRC denying a USPS request to reclassify a market-dominant mail product as competitive. (PRC Docket No. MC2013-57, Competitive Product List—Adding Round-Trip Mailer, Dec. 23, 2014)
- Served as counsel for the only mailer to win rate relief from the PRC in a discrimination complaint case. Worked as counsel of record in the appeal of awarded relief. (GameFly, Inc. v. PRC, 704 F.3d 145, D.C. Cir. 2013; USPS v. PRC, 747 F.3d 906, D.C. Cir. 2014)
- Served as counsel for an industry coalition of nonprofit and business mailers and trade associations that opposed a $3 billion above-inflation “exigent” rate increase proposed by the USPS in 2010 (USPS v. PRC, 640 F.3d 1263, D.C. Cir. 2011)
- Negotiated and obtained PRC approval of an NSA with the USPS on behalf of a large catalog mailer
- Participated in discussions with Treasury in connection with the President’s Task Force on the Postal Service
- Developed extensive comments on behalf of associations and individual mailers addressing the PRC’s 10-year review of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act and associated rulemakings
Energy
- Represented shippers in the protest of an oil pipeline’s application to charge market-based rates (Enterprise TE Products Pipeline Company, LLC, 146 FERC ¶ 61,157, 2014)
- Represented a large agribusiness in negotiations with a solar power project developer, resulting in one of the then-largest commercially owned solar power systems in the eastern United States
- Negotiated a power purchase agreement (PPA) and lease agreement associated with a solar power installation at a professional sports franchise’s practice facility
- Assisted a nonprofit organization in developing contracts governing a grant program designed to encourage adoption of novel financing structures to improve a cargo shipping fleet’s fuel efficiency
- Assisted propane shippers in securing an emergency FERC order to help alleviate critical propane shortages in the winter of 2013-14 (Enterprise TE Products Pipeline Company, LLC, 146 FERC ¶ 61,085, 2014)
- Assisted numerous commercial and residential developers in developing and installing renewable generation facilities, including solar photovoltaic facilities, combined heat and power systems, and associated PPAs
Administrative and Constitutional Law
- Drafted comments that convinced the regulator to revise mandatory disclosure requirements, to avoid First Amendment commercial speech issues
- In response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) filing, made “reverse FOIA” filings to successfully protect client information from disclosure
- Developed an argument that an agency decision impacting the development of a liquid natural gas facility was the final agency action subject to challenge in district court
Insights
Credentials
Education
- J.D. magna cum laude Duke University School of Law 2002
Note Editor, Duke Law Journal
Order of the Coif
Faculty Award, Outstanding Achievement in Administrative Practice and Government Regulation
- B.A. magna cum laude College of William & Mary 1999
Bar Admissions
- Maryland
- District of Columbia
Court Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
Professional Memberships and Activities
- Member, American Bar Association
- Member, Maryland State Bar Association
- Member, Energy Bar Association
Recognition
- Legal 500
- Industry Focus - Energy Regulation: Oil and Gas, 2022
- Industry Focus - Energy Litigation: Oil and Gas, 2023 – 2024
Community
Volunteerism
- Historical Society of the D.C. Circuit, Mock Court Program Mentor