Dwight A. Howes

Partner

Education

  • George Washington University Law School, 1985, J.D., with honors
  • George Washington University, 1981, B.A., Columbian College of Arts & Sciences

Professional Admissions / Qualifications

  • District of Columbia
  • Maine
  • Pennsylvania

Dwight is a member of the firm's Energy & Natural Resources Group. His practice focuses on oil and gas transactions, including leasing issues, joint ventures, farmout agreements, transportation and processing agreements, joint operating agreements, oilfield master service agreements, and acquisition, construction, and disposition of mid-stream assets. Dwight also has pipeline safety regulatory experience, and has assisted clients with developing and implementing pipeline safety integrity management programs, and in responding to notices of probable violation of pipeline safety regulations from PHMSA and state pipeline safety enforcement agencies.  

As part of his energy practice, Dwight has worked on multiple Marcellus and Utica Shale deals regarding lease rights, joint ventures, and mid-stream asset transactions. Representative transactions include: 

  • $150 million acquisition of Marcellus Shale rights in Pennsylvania
  • $100 million acquisition of Marcellus Shale rights in West Virginia
  • Multiple acquisitions of between $20 million and $50 million in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia
  • Represented developer of proprietary on-site water treatment program for produced water at well sites
  • Represented developer of proprietary fueling system to increase safety in refueling equipment at well sites during fracing operations
  • Represented oil and gas company in acquisition of salt water disposal well in Pennsylvania
  • Represented drilling company in financing construction and acquisition of drilling rig
  • Represented operators and non-operators in multiple joint operating agreement transactions

With respect to matters other than oil and gas, Dwight represents clients in negotiating uranium purchase, conversion, and enrichment agreements; nuclear fuel fabrication contracts; coal and limestone supply contracts; gypsum sales contracts; ash sales and disposal contracts; and related rail/ barge transport agreements. 

Dwight also works on EPC contracts for power plant and other construction projects, mergers and acquisitions, sales and acquisitions of capital medical equipment, international transactions, and corporate governance issues (such as ethics and compliance programs). 

Dwight has represented a consortium promoting the use of natural gas-fueled vehicles, and has represented clients in the purchase of advanced coal co-firing and fluidized bed technology and selective catalytic reduction. His nuclear fuel experience includes transactions involving parties from the United States, Canada, Australia, China, Russia and France. He also represents clients before state pipeline regulatory agencies and PHMSA in connection with pipeline safety regulations and notices of probable violations. 

Additionally, Dwight's supply-chain experience includes numerous IT-related acquisitions, particularly Oracle and SAP installations, outsourcing, remote help desk agreements, software licensing issues, and software development agreements.

Dwight was a team leader for the Afghanistan Transitional Commercial Law Project, a rule-of-law project providing counsel and assistance to the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in developing a comprehensive set of commercial laws for that country, including banking, investment, property, arbitration, environmental, natural resources and transactional laws. He has also conducted Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations in South America; negotiated energy transactions in South and Central America, Australia, Europe, and Asia; and handled numerous supply-chain-related transactions in Asia, Europe and South America.

Dwight has been involved in the sale of a proton therapy system by Belgian-based IBA, s.a. to the University of Pennsylvania Health System and to the Hampton University Proton Therapy Institute; the acquisition of a proton therapy system for a major university hospital system in the United States; and the development of a proton therapy treatment center in Europe. 

Dwight is an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and the International Centre for Dispute Resolution.

Employment History

  • 2010 - Reed Smith
  • 2000 - McGuireWoods, LLP
    • Partner
  • 1989 - Consolidated Natural Gas Company
    • Deputy General Counsel (1998-1999), General Attorney (1994-1998), Senior Legislative Counsel (1989-1994)
  • 1988 - Associate Counsel and the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and Committee Staff Designee for Vice Chairman Sen. William S. Cohen (R-Maine) (1988-1989)
  • 1986 - Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer and Nelson (Portland, Maine)
    • Associate (1986-1988)
  • 1985 - Sen. John Heinz (R-Pa.)
    • Legislative Director (1984-1986)
  • 1983 - Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum (R-Kan.)
    • Legislative Assistant (1983-1984)
  • 1981 - Rep. Thomas B. Evans, Jr. (R-Del.)
    • Legislative Assistant (1981-1983)

Professional Affiliations

  • Allegheny County Bar Association – Member of Business Law Section
  • Allegheny County Bar Foundation – Fellow Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas – Court Appointed Arbitrator
  • American Arbitration Association – Member of Commercial and International Dispute Resolution Panel
  • American Bar Association – Member of Business Law Section
  • American Corporate Counsel Association, Western Pennsylvania Chapter – Past President
  • U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania – Court Appointed Arbitrator
  • Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas - Court Appointed Arbitrator 
  • Bell Acres Borough, Pennsylvania – Council Member (2001-Present)

Military Service

  • Lieutenant, Special Duty, Intelligence, U.S. Navy Reserve, Honorably Discharged, 1994