Gordon A. Coffee is a litigation partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. Mr. Coffee’s experience includes a large number of significant cases taken to trial before judges, juries, and arbitration panels. A partial list of his trials is available here .
Mr. Coffee’s success in fending off multi-million dollar claims against energy companies led to his being recommended for energy litigation by Legal 500 in its 2010 and 2012 U.S. editions. Among the energy companies Mr. Coffee has represented are Westar Energy, USGen New England, Allegheny Energy Supply, Northern Indiana Public Service Company, Midland Cogeneration Venture, NorthWestern Energy, Dayton Power and Light, and Duquesne Light Company.
Mr. Coffee further has represented health care providers and other businesses in complex commercial litigation and litigation against government agencies. He secured an injunction barring the Department of Health and Human Services from enforcing Stark Act regulations against lithotripsy providers, and the Washington Times noted his “withering” cross-examination that left an expert witness “obviously rattled” in high profile litigation in Virginia between the Episcopal Church and several former congregations over the ownership of more than $40 million in property.
In addition to representing energy companies, health care providers, and other businesses in commercial litigation, Mr. Coffee has successfully represented a number of energy companies and other businesses in federal agency investigations. Notably, he has secured nearly a dozen favorable resolutions of FERC and NERC investigations and audits of energy companies. In several cases, he persuaded FERC or NERC to take no adverse action against the company or to dismiss proposed notices of violations. In other instances, his efforts resulted in substantial reductions in penalties proposed by the agency and helped his clients avoid expensive mitigation and compliance plans. Mr. Coffee also convinced a judge to exonerate an international consulting company caught up in a FERC investigation of Enron, and prevailed on the CFTC to conclude an investigation of an energy company with no action taken against the company.
Mr. Coffee received a B.A., with distinction, from the University of Virginia and a J.D. from the University of Texas.
