Nikesh Jindal

Nikesh Jindal has a wide-ranging practice that covers many industries, including most prominently the energy sector.  Having served in senior roles in the federal government, Nikesh uses that experience to represent clients that have complex litigation and regulatory issues involving the government.  Nikesh has litigated cases ranging from False Claims Act suits with billions of dollars in dispute to intricate appellate matters before the Courts of Appeals and the Supreme Court.  Nikesh is equally skilled at devising and implementing strategies to help clients achieve their regulatory objectives before the federal government.

Nikesh serves as a leader in the firm's Energy Transition initiative, helping clients with their clean and renewable energy projects.  Nikesh assists clients across the entire spectrum of clean energy technologies---carbon capture, hydrogen, wind, nuclear, advanced batteries, renewable fuels, and others.  In particular, Nikesh advises clients on how to take advantage of funding opportunities created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act and advocates for their interests before the Department of Energy and other agencies with responsibility for implementing these programs.   

Nikesh previously served as senior counsel at the Department of Energy, where he was actively involved in several key Department initiatives, including the drafting of guidelines implementing a multi-billion dollar loan guarantee program for innovative technologies authorized under the Energy Policy Act of 2005.  Drawing upon that experience, Nikesh is well-versed in how the government sets energy policy and administers its regulatory authority in this area, and he uses that expertise to help clients with their full range of regulatory and litigation needs before the government.    

Nikesh also has extensive experience representing oil and gas companies in a broad cross-section of matters, including royalty disputes.  He also represents oil and companies in challenges to their leases, drilling permits, and other activities critical to their onshore and offshore operations.  Nikesh also advises them on critical rulemakings and other regulatory measures and enforcement activities before the Department of Interior other federal agencies with oversight in this area.    

Nikesh also maintains an active general appellate and administrative-law based practice.  He has litigated cases in the Supreme Court and circuit courts across the county, coordinated and led efforts to challenge several agency regulations, and has represented clients in investigations before Congress and various Executive Branch agencies. He has defended clients in several qui tam-related lawsuits and government audits involving government funding programs.

Nikesh joined the firm in 2014 after having worked at another large multinational law firm.  Prior to that, he was Associate General Counsel at the Office of Management and Budget within the Executive Office of the President. In that capacity, he provided counsel to senior policy officials on legal and regulatory issues arising from several federal agencies, including the Departments of Interior, Energy, Health and Human Services, and Transportation.  As part of his responsibilities, Nikesh reviewed significant rulemakings and worked directly with the relevant agencies to resolve any legal issues.

Nikesh served as a law clerk to the Honorable Diarmuid F. O'Scannlain in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in Portland, Oregon. He received his law degree from Yale Law School, where he served as an editor on the Yale Law Journal, and graduated summa cum laude in 1999 with an A.B. in Economics from Dartmouth College.