Key Contacts: Lev Gantly – Partner | Anna Hickey – Partner | Simon Puleston Jones – Consultant for Philip Lee LLP |Michael Byrd – Partner | Ryan Covington – Partner | Jonathan Kelly – Managing Director |
Philip Lee LLP has partnered with New York-based Skylight Law LLP. The US firm will now operate as Philip Lee (US) LLP. The firms’ combined offering will initially focus on climate finance, carbon project development and climate-tech venture capital, amongst other decarbonisation-focused sectors.
This builds on our reputation as a global market leader in international climate finance as well as a top-tier legal advisor to clients developing and financing renewable energy and other sustainable infrastructure projects in Ireland.
Michael Byrd and Ryan Covington will lead the US business, which brings world-leading expertise in engineered carbon removal projects and climate venture capital to the existing capability of the climate law team practising out of Philip Lee’s Dublin and London offices. The combined practice is now one of the largest dedicated climate law practices in the world.
This team will support a broad range of clients from project developers to institutional investors that are committed to deploying capital in carbon removal and reduction projects this decade and beyond. Its members have extensive experience in advising on all types of carbon projects, including nature-based removals, engineered/novel CDR (including DACS), methane capture, regenerative agriculture and soil carbon, as well as more traditional reduction activities such as large-scale deployment of clean cooking stoves and fuel-switching programmes in developing economies.
Managing partner, Jonathan Kelly remarked “Adding New York to our network with an on the ground team of highly regarded experts who have built a leading reputation in US climate law is an important moment in the growth and expansion of the firm. Some of the most interesting work in climate finance and carbon projects development is happening in the US. With our expanded capabilities we are in a great position to capitalise on a rapidly developing area of expertise for us.
Our award winning climate law practice is not only the best in Ireland but is recognised as one of the leading such practices in the world, and we are very proud of that.”
Prior to establishing Skylight Law LLP, Michael and Ryan, together with counsel Jordan Baber, worked at international law firms including White & Case and CMS UK. On partnering with Philip Lee LLP, Michael and Ryan commented “Now, more than ever, we need to deepen international collaboration in order to combat climate change. It’s that belief that led us to partner with Philip Lee LLP and its globally recognised Climate Projects team. Simply put, they’re the most impressive team we’ve come across in the sector – a team that’s unique in its ability to advise on complex cross-border transactions, as well as the evolving web of international laws and regulations applicable to climate projects and markets. We’re thrilled to be able to leverage their team’s market leading expertise in support of our clients that are developing climate projects on a global scale.
Europe specifically is a critical market for our clients and we believe will only grow in importance in the coming years. Philip Lee LLP’s presence in, and deep experience across, Europe will amplify our ability to help clients unlock critical partnerships, capital, and project deployment opportunities in Europe.”
Lev Gantly, partner in Philip Lee’s Dublin office, notes “Despite the current political environment, climate change isn’t going away – it is the existential threat of our time. We fundamentally believe in our mission to play a part in combating this threat. For us, this means being able to support our clients that are working to create impact, reduce emissions and sequester carbon efficiently and durably. Given that greenhouse gases have no borders, the nature of our clients’ work invariably involves cross-border structuring and contracting.
Having Mike, Ryan and Jordan on board adds immeasurably to our ability to support clients seamlessly across both English law and New York law transactions. They have built an incredibly strong reputation in the US as the go-to law firm for project developers and funders, especially in novel CDR technologies. Combining this with our experience in the VCM, Article 6 and CORSIA markets puts us in a unique position in the market.”
We have been recognised as the best law firm in the voluntary carbon market for two years running by Environmental Finance, in 2023 and 2024. We have built our reputation by being a market leader in many areas of legal practice, including media, environmental law, M&A and corporate transactions and projects and construction.
