McGuireWoods partner Emilie McNally was honored as one of the nation’s top young lawyers in separate features published by Bloomberg Law and Law360.
McNally was named to Bloomberg Law‘s “They’ve Got Next: The 40 Under 40” list and selected as a Law360 “Rising Star” for her accomplishments as an M&A lawyer who advises clients in energy-related projects and transactions, including some of the largest and most innovative energy deals in recent years.
Her prominent deal work includes Dominion Energy’s $14 billion sale of its three natural gas distribution companies to Enbridge in 2023, creating the largest natural gas utility franchise in North America. McNally also played a key role representing NiSource in the $2.15 billion sale of a 19.9% stake in its regulated subsidiary Northern Indiana Public Service Co. (NIPSCO) to Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, a deal she described as the biggest of her career in Law360’s July 31, 2024, “Rising Star” story.
McNally said transactional work always appealed to her because she enjoys “quarterbacking” complex deals that require her to know “a little bit about of a lot of things.”
“There’s nothing more rewarding or more motivating than getting the right answer to someone you’ve developed a good working relationship with, and really feeling like you contributed to their business, and just on a personal level, to their success internally,” she said.
In her Bloomberg Law profile published July 25, 2024, McNally discussed her recent deal work as well as her holistic approach to transactions that she adopted as a first-year attorney.
“Beyond the minutiae, I endeavored to comprehend the deal in its entirety — delving into the business motivations and understanding the intricate interplay of various documents,” she said.
McNally is a founder and co-editor of McGuireWoods’ Lights On blog, which features news and insights from the firm’s nationally recognized energy team to help companies stay current on business and legal developments. She told Law360 that clients want attorneys who understand how new laws, regulations and technologies affect their business.
“There are new technologies constantly coming to the forefront, there are new regulations, new bills that have different types of tax credits that lead to different types of structuring,” McNally said. “So it is a constantly changing landscape.”
McNally sits on the pro bono committee for McGuireWoods’ Richmond office and co-leads a medical-legal partnership (MLP) between VCU Health, Dominion Energy and McGuireWoods that offers free legal advice and representation for low-income patients and families. Her involvement in the MLP is one of her proudest accomplishments as a lawyer, she told Law360.