Special Counsel
Waterway Plaza Two
10001 Woodloch Forest Dr., Suite 350
The Woodlands, TX 77380
281.296.4416 tel
281.296.4404 fax


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Douglas Whiting serves as special counsel in Jones Walker's Real Estate and Project Development Practice Group, residing in the firm's Woodlands office.

Mr. Whiting has negotiated and closed over $13 billion worth of transactions spanning five continents involving electric power, oil & gas services, refinery, and other energy-related facilities. His focus has been on areas as diverse as acquisitions/divestitures, engineering/procurement/construction, project development, operations and maintenance agreements, real estate development, and master services/supply agreements.

He has served as the general counsel for a publicly-traded group of oilfield services companies, assistant general counsel for utility-affiliated domestic and international power plant developers and operators, and as U.S. divisional counsel for a European-based power plant developer and industrial process/refinery/power plant equipment supplier. Among other activities, he was a part of a twelve-person team which formed, started up, financed, and expanded a company which became one of the largest independent power producers in the world. These experiences allowed him to work out of offices throughout Southern California, Houston, in the Washington D.C. area, and in Helsinki, London, and Singapore. He is also capable of conducting business in German, having lived in Southern Germany for two years where his volunteer service activities for a large international religious organization were conducted in German over 80% of the time.

As an in-house attorney, he was responsible for international compliance training as well as legal support for a variety of functions, including law department management, governmental affairs and lobbying, human resources support, securities, strategic planning, intellectual property registration and management, technology licensing, and litigation management. He has managed the corporate secretary functions for over 400 companies, including companies located in foreign countries. Much of his work currently focuses on supporting a large international engineering and construction company which is designing and constructing refineries or refinery retrofits, LNG facilities, and related systems in the Americas, Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

Mr. Whiting has served as the chair of the International Energy Committee of the Association of Corporate Counsel (formerly known as the American Corporate Counsel Association), where he headed a committee of approximately 750 attorneys located throughout North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific regions. He has also served as a board member of ACC's Houston Chapter. He is a founding board member and officer of the newly-formed Woodlands Bar Association and has served as the Houston Chapter President of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society, an international legal organization which advocates and encourages attorneys to promote fairness and virtue founded upon the rule of law through the exercise of high moral and ethical standards in their legal practices and through public service. He has served as a board member on regional and national trade groups such as the Electric Power Supply Association and its predecessor groups, the Electric Generation Association and the National Independent Energy Producers. He has also served as a company representative to the National Mining Association. Most of his work currently focuses on supporting engineering and construction activities for refineries and LNG facilities and related systems in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

Case Studies

• Endesa of Spain (Endesa, S.A.)

News

• Whiting and Miller to Speak on Doing Business in Latin America
• Jones Walker Attorneys Complete Contract for Project in Lima, Peru

Presentations

• "Doing Business in Latin America", June 24, 2008
• "M&A: Letter of Intent Through Integration to Disposition", 2007

Memberships

• State Bar of California
• State Bar of Texas
• Association of Corporate Counsel (former international committee chair and local chapter board member)
• The Woodlands Bar Association (Member, Board of Directors; Vice President)
• J. Reuben Clark Law Society (former chapter president; currently on chapter board)
• The Woodlands Symphony Orchestra Chorus in Houston, Texas
• Various leadership positions in religious organizations and youth sports organizations
• Former Judge Pro Tem, San Diego County Municipal & Superior Courts, Small Claims Division (1993–1999)
• Former member of ad hoc civic committees dealing with educational and transportation issues in the San Diego area
• Active in fundraising activities for 2008 presidential candidate
• Teaching activities: 
  • California State University, Long Beach ( M.B.A. Program, 1985–1987)
  • Pepperdine University, Irvine, California (M.B.A. Program, 1990–1991)
  • University of California, San Diego (Legal Assistant Program, 1997–1999)
    

Languages

• Conversational German