Paul B. Turner, a corporate attorney with extensive experience advising clients on commercial, credit, and regulatory issues in the energy and commodities markets, has joined the national law firm Baker Donelson as a shareholder in the Firm's Corporate Group.
Based in Baker Donelson's Houston office, Mr. Turner focuses his practice on the physical and financial trading, marketing, structuring, and financing of a range of energy commodities, including power, natural gas, crude oil, petroleum products, environmental attributes such as renewable energy certificates (RECs), natural gas liquids (NGLs), ethanol, and other hydrogen-derivative products. His clients include oil companies, financial institutions, hedge funds, independent trading and marketing firms, and large corporations.
"Paul's experience is a valuable asset for clients facing challenges in the energy and commodities sectors," said Sebastian Meis, chair of Baker Donelson's Corporate Group. "He excels at guiding clients during troubling times – whether they are facing a regulatory inquiry or investigation into specific trades or their trading practices by an exchange or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or whether a client is dealing with their own potential bankruptcy or that of a major trading counterparty. Paul is a strong addition to our energy team."
Mr. Turner counsels clients on the structuring and negotiation of complex commodity and finance transactions. His work includes drafting and advising on highly structured deals with bespoke documentation, such as for commodity credit intermediation arrangements, tolling and processing relationships, or for wholesale supply, hedging, and capital line transaction arrangements with retail providers, or Virtual Power Purchase Agreements. He has helped financial institutions expand their hedging offerings to the energy markets, as well as large industrials developing and implementing their hedging programs. In addition, Mr. Turner regularly negotiates less structured forward transactions through industry-standard master agreements such as those published by the Edison Electric Institute, International Swaps and Derivatives Association, North American Energy Standards Board, and Liquefied Energy Agency Program. He also frequently advises clients on related corporate matters, such as entity formation, operating agreements, mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate governance, and dissolution.
Mr. Turner's experience includes helping large entities, such as banks and trading companies, as they enter new trading markets, and he often advises on the specific restructuring and bankruptcy issues associated with the Bankruptcy Code's delineation of certain safe-harbor contracts. For more than 25 years, he has represented clients in some of the largest and most high-profile energy and commodity bankruptcies.
"Baker Donelson offers a dynamic and growing energy practice, as well as a strong commitment to our clients' success. This, along with the Firm's reputation, strategic vision, and impressive growth trajectory, provide an excellent foundation to grow my national practice and better serve my clients," said Mr. Turner.
Corporate INTL named Mr. Turner Texas Lawyer of the Year for Energy Transactions, as well as the 2025 Lawyer of the Year for Futures and Derivatives. He has been recognized by The Legal 500 in the area of U.S. Energy – Regulatory. He also has been named six times by Best Lawyers in America® as the Futures and Derivatives Law "Lawyer of the Year" in Houston. A graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, he is a board member for the Committee of Chief Risk Officers, a non-profit corporation of energy companies dedicated to the advancement of a broad range of best practices in the field of risk management. He also serves on the advisory board of DCarboniz, a non-profit trade association whose aim is to help design and develop the best industry practices, business tools, and protocols to meet societal decarbonization and energy transition needs and doing so in a way that maximizes the opportunities of market participants in the energy sector. Mr. Turner previously served as vice chairman of the American Bar Association Committee on Gas and Electric Marketing as well as the Energy Bar Association Committee on Power Generation and Marketing.