Bio

Mark Barnett has a leading business law practice focused on the energy and climate solution sectors, advising emerging and high growth companies on governance and strategic matters, corporate and project financings, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property strategy, joint ventures and non-traditional partnerships, and industry-specific regulatory challenges. Mark advises clean energy and infrastructure project sponsors and developers in all aspects of project development, acquisitions, financings, fund formation, partnerships, joint ventures and regulatory issues. His experience includes tax equity portfolio financings, debt financings (including back leverage transactions), complicated joint ventures, various M&A transactions and innovative financing vehicles. Mark also serves as investor and lender counsel in distributed renewable energy financings. His project finance and development experience spans solar, wind, energy storage, waste-to-energy and other waste to value, innovative wastewater treatment and other clean energy and clean infrastructure projects. Mark also has a very active practice advising emerging companies and venture capital investors in the climatech space. Having served as Head of Business Development and General Counsel for an innovative climatech company out of MIT that was ultimately acquired by Lockheed Martin, Mark is uniquely positioned to serve as counsel and strategic advisor to emerging climatech companies at every stage of development. Mark also works with some of the leading investors in the climatech sector and regularly advises on transaction in the sector. Mark’s prior experience includes time in government as counsel to the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund, a quasi-public state agency that supports the development of clean energy technology (now known as the Connecticut Green Bank). Mark also served as Vice President of Business Development & General Counsel at Sun Catalytix Corporation, where he helped the company raise over $17 million in equity and non-dilutive financing and then helped shepherd the company as outside counsel through a successful sale to Lockheed Martin Corporation. Mark draws on these and other experiences in the business and governmental arena to serve as a strategic and business advisor to clients. Mark advises a number of innovative initiatives at the intersection of charitable and mission-driven activities in cleantech and climate change mitigation sectors. Among other activities, he advises the PRIME Coalition, CrossBoundary Energy Access and the Grantham Foundation as pro bono counsel. Mark also has advised national leading groups such as the Environmental Defense Fund and Ceres on clean energy policy and climate mitigation investment strategies. In addition, he is a frequent speaker across the country on topics spanning renewable energy project finance, clean energy policy and impact investing, and spends time mentoring emerging cleantech ventures through such organizations as MassChallenge and Clean Tech Open. Mark plays an active role in the management of the firm. He leads the firm’s Energy & Climate Group and is co-chair of the firm’s Business Department, where he works to further the strategic goals of the department and Foley Hoag.