In its Energy practice, Griggs & Adler, P.C., provides representation before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in all areas of FERC practice, including oil pipelines, gas pipelines, electric utilities, hydroelectric power, qualified PURPA facilities and independent power producers. Appeals of final FERC orders to United States courts of appeals are part of the Firm's FERC practice. In its FERC practice, the Firm provides different levels of intervention and participation, tailored to the client's specific needs. Through analysis of the client's particular interests, including the client's budgetary constraints, specific objectives are identified and a strategy to achieve those objectives is developed. Options recommended may range from simple monitoring of FERC developments to full scale intervention in adjudicatory and rulemaking proceedings. Protests of rate filings and active intervention as a party are a common approach. The Firm is prepared to select expert witnesses in the fields of economics, engineering, and ratemaking, or to work with experts selected by the client. The Firm assists in the preparation of direct testimony and prepares the expert witness for cross-examination at hearings. The Firm also drafts discovery requests and responses, handles motions, and drafts prehearing and posthearing briefs.
Less active alternatives are also provided by the Firm. In rulemaking proceedings, comments on proposed rules are drafted and filed with the FERC. Monitoring of developments in proceedings that may be of interest to the client, with provision of periodic reports, is a typical service. This can be supplemented by direct intervention in specific adjudicatory and rulemaking proceedings at the client's specific request. Low profile intervention is an option that allows receipt of all documents served in a case, while avoiding the expense of active participation with live witnesses.
In the oil pipeline field, Griggs & Adler, P. C., has represented shippers on the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) and the Williams Pipe Line system, two of the largest and most extensively litigated pipelines. Three separate TAPS Quality Bank cases have been fully litigated over an eighteen year period. The Quality Bank administers a system of payments and credits among TAPS shippers to account for differences in crude oil quality shipped in the pipeline. A trial that spanned nine months in 2002 and 2003 included ten parties and involved over $400 million in Quality Bank charges. Participation in the Quality Bank cases has produced millions of dollars in reductions of Quality Bank payments for the Firm's clients, Chevron, Union Oil Company of California, and OXY USA Inc. Another TAPS case, the TAPS Pumpability case, addressed transportation rate design issues and produced lower pipeline rates for the Firm's clients. The Williams case involved a 30-day trial on market power issues under the Buckeye standard. Through participation in this case, Mr. Griggs and Ms. Adler obtained significantly reduced rates for their client, Conoco, Inc. In all of these cases, the Firm achieved the clients' goals while following the budgets set for each project.
In the electric utility field, Mr. Griggs has been lead counsel in cases covering the full spectrum of rate issues, including rate base, rate of return, allocation, rate design, and tax issues. The Firm has achieved substantially lower wholesale rates for its electric utility clients. Two FERC electric cases in which Mr. Griggs participated included separate antitrust suits that were ultimately settled on terms favorable to his clients. Mr. Griggs has also handled cases at the state commission level involving municipal acquisition of street lighting and electric utility property, as well as rate design and cost allocation issues. The Firm's partners have worked on hydroelectric licensing matters, and Mr. Griggs has written an article about the PURPA incentives for small power cogenerators and independent power producers: "Competitive Bidding and Independent Power Producers: Is Deregulation Coming to the Electric Utility Industry?" 9 Energy Law Journal 415 (1988).
In the gas pipeline field, Mr. Griggs participated in the Order No. 500 case that was reviewed in the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and he has participated in FERC hearings involving issues such as minimum bills, take-or-pay provisions and contract carriage for independent marketers of natural gas. In 1986 Mr. Griggs published an article discussing restructuring of the natural gas industry: "Restructuring the Natural Gas Industry: Order No. 436 and Other Regulatory Initiatives," 7 Energy Law Journal 71 (1986).
Mr. Griggs served in the General Counsel's Office of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission during the late 1970s, where he drafted Commission opinions in licensing matters and participated in litigation brought by a leading environmental group challenging the NRC's decisions on nuclear waste handling, storage and disposal, and uranium mining and milling.
Representative clients for the Energy practice include Cap Rock Energy Corporation, Chevron Corporation, NewCorp Resources Electric Cooperative, Inc., OXY USA Inc., and Union Oil Company of California. Former clients, now merged with other companies, include Amoco, Conoco, and Unocal.
In its Litigation practice, Griggs & Adler, P.C., represents plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts in all phases of civil litigation, including trials, appellate advocacy, and enforcement of judgments. Issues in recently litigated cases include personal injury, gender-based discrimination, damage to property, fraud, breach of contract, and veterinary malpractice. In a case against a small business alleging fraud in its hiring process, Griggs & Adler successfully defended the employer, obtaining a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court of Virginia, Cohn v. Knowledge Connections, Inc. The Firm's partners have won large money judgments. Representing a small, high-tech business in a jury trial for breach of contract and tortious interference with business relations, Mr. Griggs obtained a verdict in Federal district court awarding over $800,000, including $350,000 in punitive damages. In other cases, Mr. Griggs and Ms. Adler have obtained a judgment for $130,000 for breach of an asset sale agreement, and smaller judgments in cases representing individuals in contract disputes and suits for veterinary malpractice. Cases that the Firm has settled have also produced large benefits for its clients. For example, the Firm represented a woman farmer in a case against the Department of Agriculture for gender-based discrimination, obtaining a settlement worth over $240,000.
At the appellate level, Mr. Griggs has argued cases before the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Fourth and D.C. Circuits, and an appeal to the Supreme Court of Virginia. Ms. Adler's litigation experience includes representation of a class of over 200 FBI agents in a suit for overtime compensation. Ms. Adler has represented a major European electronics company in a case involving violation of U.S. securities laws. In cases involving the wrongful death of pets, Ms. Adler has won a jury trial for veterinary malpractice and a nonjury trial against a pet grooming business.
Griggs & Adler, P.C., manages its litigation case load in close consultation with its clients to ensure that the clients' goals and objectives are achieved with maximum efficiency. Major expenditures are not undertaken without balancing the costs against the likely economic benefits. Strategy and tactics are tailored to meet the client's objectives, and the client is kept fully apprised through constant contact.
In its Commercial Leasing practice, the Firm represents owners of an eleven story commercial office building in downtown Washington, D.C., and a five-story office building in Tysons Corner, Virginia. Griggs & Adler advises the owners on all legal matters affecting the buildings, negotiates and drafts leases, and executes documents on the owners' behalf under a power-of-attorney. Commercial real estate clients also include tenants for whom Griggs & Adler reviews and analyzes letters of intent, negotiates lease terms, and reviews and comments upon lease terms prepared by the landlord. The Firm assists its tenant clients in negotiating favorable lease terms, extensions and renewals of leases, or, should the need arise, early termination.