Lawyers say what they really think about changing policies.
Michael T. Burr is Fortnightly’s editor-in-chief. Email him at burr@pur.com.
Lawyers get a bad rap in this country, and in some cases it’s well earned. However, during the month of October I enjoyed the distinct privilege of interviewing nearly a dozen of the industry’s most insightful, informed and hard-working people—all of them law-firm lawyers serving energy companies, regulatory agencies and customer groups. These conversations covered an immense amount of territory, from cyber-security standards to national energy strategy, and in every case these attorneys’ comments were thought-provoking and well-reasoned (see “Policy Shift”). Unfortunately, with nearly 10 hours of interview material at my disposal, I couldn’t possibly publish every thought-provoking and well-reasoned statement—in some cases because my sources made those statements off the record.