EMLF members provide an update on key developments for the energy industry in recent legislative sessions in Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. Attendees will gain practical insights into how these state-level actions may shape the evolving legal and business landscape for energy companies.
Approved for 1.5 credits in IN, KY, OH, PA, TN, TX and VA. Approved for 2.0 credits in OK and 1.8 credits in WV.
$50 for non-members
$35 for EMLF members
$0 for law students
Join now for 2026 and get the member rate! Click here.
Presenters:
Dan Baker, Steptoe & Johnson PLLC
Nick Bibby, K&L Gates
Katrina Bowers, Diversified Energy
Clay Larkin, Dentons
Greg Russell, Vorys
Zachery Smith, McGuireWoods
Dan Baker
Steptoe & Johnson PLLC
AssociateDan Baker is an Associate in Steptoe & Johnson PLLC’s Charleston, West Virginia office, where he focuses his practice on assisting clients to achieve their business goals by counseling them through entity formation, financing and other transactions, as well as general business and contract matters. Dan has a background in chemical engineering, and previously worked in the legal department of a chemical and advanced system technology company. Dan served as per diem counsel to the WV House of Delegates Energy & Public Works committee for the 2025 legislative session and the committee on the Judiciary for the 2026 legislative session
Dentons
Partner
Clay Larkin is a partner in the Lexington, Kentucky office of Dentons. Recognized in the fields of Environmental and Energy & Natural Resources Law by Chambers and Super Lawyers magazine, Clay has devoted a significant amount of his practice to representation of energy and mining companies with an emphasis in the coal, oil and gas and electricity generation industries. Clay also regularly represents clients in environmental litigation and compliance counseling matters under SMCRA, the Clean Water Act and other environmental statutes, and also has experience in general litigation and transactional matters in the energy and natural resources field. Clay serves on the boards of the Kentucky Registry Election Finance, the Kentucky Coal Association, and is a Past President of the Energy & Mineral Law Foundation.
K&L Gates
Government Affairs Analyst
Nicholas Bibby is a government affairs analyst in K&L Gates’ Public Policy and Law practice. He has broad experience in energy and utility issues, both in-house and with an association. Nick concentrates his efforts in the energy industry, while assisting the firm’s clients in healthcare, manufacturing, and technology. As a member of the Public Policy and Law practice group, Nick provides companies and organizations with advice on strategic policy initiatives and advocacy at all levels of government. Prior to joining K&L Gates, Nick served as manager of external affairs for a national independent power producer, where he managed legislative, executive, and political engagement across 17 states in the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions. In addition, he worked as a principal and state lead for a national clean energy and electric transportation industry association. Nick has also served as a government affairs representative for an investor-owned electric utility company.
Greg Russell
Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease
Partner
Greg is a partner in the Columbus office of Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP, and leads the firm’s energy group. For more than 30 years, he has been advising producers and pipeline operators in Ohio on business and regulatory matters, ranging from asset transactions, to unit operations and development, to leasehold and royalty disputes. Greg represented the applicant in the first statutory unitization proceeding related to shale development in Ohio, and has since been involved in numerous regulatory and litigation matters addressing unitization issues in the state. Greg serves as the General Counsel for the Ohio Oil and Gas Association and is a former chair of IPAA’s Law Committee. He has also served as an adjunct professor at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, where he taught courses on oil and gas law, and is a frequent speaker on a broad range of topics impacting the natural gas industry, including oil and gas contracting matters and regulatory issues. Greg received his J.D. from Harvard Law School and his B.A. summa cum laude from Washington and Lee University. He received a Fulbright Grant to study mathematics at the TH Darmstadt in West Germany in 1988-1989.
Diversified Energy Company
Assistant General Counsel of Litigation
Katrina joined Diversified Energy Company in 2024 and serves as Assistant General Counsel of Litigation and Regulatory Compliance. In this role, she is responsible for managing pre-suit claims and litigation against the company as well as providing legal support to its environmental safety and health, land, and government affairs teams across the company’s operational footprint in Appalachia, the Western Anadarko, Permian, Barnett, and Ark-La-Tex regions. Prior to joining Diversified, Katrina was a shareholder in Babst Calland’s Corporate and Commercial, Litigation, and Energy and Natural Resources groups representing oil and gas companies in litigation concerning a variety of matters and leading the firm’s airport practice. Katrina is a 2013 graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law and lives in Charleston, West Virginia with her husband and two small children.
McGuireWoods Consulting
Senior Vice President, State Government Relations
Zach is a senior vice president on the Virginia state government relations team. He brings more than a decade of government affairs, public policy and corporate advocacy experience to McGuireWoods Consulting. He has led comprehensive legislative and regulatory strategies at the federal, state and local levels, with a particular focus on energy policy in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Virginia and Washington D.C. In his most recent role as director of government relations at CNX Resources, Zach developed and executed legislative and regulatory strategy across various state and federal agencies, Congress, as well as state legislatures. Prior to that, he served as manager of external affairs at CONSOL Energy, where he led public relations, communications and government affairs. Zach has a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated magna cum laude.