Title: Partner
Firm: Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
Age: 38
Brandon Dias is one of the country’s leading attorneys specializing in the relatively new but rapidly expanding Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing sector. PACE is a program aimed at funding renewable energy, energy efficiency, water efficiency and certain other projects for residential and commercial buildings via a special tax or assessment financing vehicle provided by local governments.
“There’s a lot of competitive landscape in the PACE world,” he said. “I do think you may see more of this in the future. I think it’s maturing, but it’s still young.”
Leveraging his California land-secured financing experience, Brandon quickly became one of the few lawyers with a thorough understanding of the legal, business and political issues that inform the PACE market. Orrick estimates that fewer than 10 lawyers are specializing in PACE, and most are in the later stages of their careers.
“Within Orrick, we have a lot of the bastion of folks who really developed the industry, especially in California, moving up in age,” Brandon said. Declining applications to law schools could make filling the ranks more difficult in the future, he said.
In addition to his PACE practice, Brandon is a member of Orrick’s nationally leading not-for-profit healthcare finance group. He has practiced in this sector for his entire career and has served as bond counsel or underwriter’s counsel on transactions involving some of the largest not-for-profit healthcare systems in the country, including serving as bond counsel on a recent transaction of more than $4 billion for Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and its affiliates.
Undecided about whether to attend law school or medical school, Brandon worked in a pathology lab while in college. He chose the law after witnessing an autopsy of a young accident victim.
Brandon met his wife Kristy while they were in law school at the University of California at Santa Barbara. They have a son and a daughter.
“Brandon has become the leading go-to attorney in California for the answers on PACE. He’s regularly called on by clients, both governmental and private, to assist in structuring, establishing and implementing PACE programs, not only in California, but across the country, including Florida, Georgia and Missouri.” Adi Weisman, Media Relations, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP
