SAN FRANCISCO - Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth has hired Dan Deshon, a 27-year bond industry veteran, to help expand its utility practice in the Far West.
Deshon, a former partner at O'Melveny & Myers LLP and Nixon Peabody LLP, will work from Stradling's San Francisco office and focus on regional utilities, primarily in the Northwest, the law firm said in a statement Friday.
"We believe there are significant opportunities for the firm's utility practice to expand into the Northwest. Dan is a proven veteran and the practice he has brought to Stradling will complement the utility work we are currently doing in California, Colorado, Arizona and Nevada," said David Casnocha, managing shareholder of Stradling's San Francisco office.
Casnocha said Stradling now has five senior bond attorneys focused on its utilities practice, second only to its education finance group.
Deshon has worked as bond counsel and underwriter counsel on many public utility financings in the Pacific Northwest and across the country, including Puerto Rico. He is an expert on natural gas prepay transactions and has negotiated multiple power purchase agreements, Stradling said.
In addition to his work in the U.S., Deshon was the partner-in-charge of O'Melveny's Hong Kong office and the chief representative for Nixon Peabody in Shanghai, China.
In the first quarter of 2013, Stradling ranked ninth nationally among bond counsel firms and second nationally as disclosure counsel, according to Thomson Reuters.
