Lawyers
Joan E. Drake - Shareholder
I practice in the following areas:
Energy and Utilities, Environmental, Public Lands, Regulatory Practice, Water Resources and Quality, Renewable Energy
Practice Areas
Ms. Drake is a member of Modrall Sperling's Natural Resources and Environment Department.
Ms. Drake assists clients with energy, renewable energy, utility, location approval, transmission, and interconnection matters before the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Ms. Drake also assists clients on federal environmental and regulatory permitting matters before federal land and resource management agenices, including Department of Interior, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Environmental Protection Agency.
Prior Experience
Prior to her legal career, Ms. Drake was an environmental regulatory specialist with the Army Corps of Engineers in Los Angeles and New England, and as a result has many years of experience implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, and other federal environmental laws.
Publications List
- The NEPA Process: What do we Need to do and When? , 43 Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Journal 117 (2006).
- Contractual Discretion and the Endangered Species Act: Can the Bureau of Reclamation Reallocate Federal Project Water for Endangered Species in the Middle Rio Grande, 41 Natural Resources Journal 487 (Spring 2001).
Recent Seminars, Speeches and Presentations
- Regulatory Issues Impacting Renewable Energy Development in New Mexico, at NM State Bar CLE (December 2008).
- Jurisdictional Water in the Wake of Rapanos and Carabell, at Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Annual Institute (July 2007).
- Scope of Federal Action under NEPA: Small Handles and Segmentation, at CLE International and Colorado Law Institute 4th Annual NEPA Conference (January 2007).
- The NEPA Process: What do we Need to do and When?, at Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Special Institute on NEPA and Federal Land Development (February 2006).
Professional Activities
- Chair, ABA Environmental Impact Assessment Committee (2008-present); Newsletter Vice-Chair (2005-2008)
- Energy Bar Association
- New Mexico Bar Association
- Association of Commerce and Industry, Vice-Chair, Water Committee (2006)
Honors
- Honorable Pete Domenici Award for Environmental Excellence (2001)
- Lexis Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement (2001)
- Commander's Award, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (1994)
- Bronze Medal, Environmental Protection Agency (1990)
Education
- University of New Mexico School of Law, Juris Doctor, 2001, magna cum laude, and Natural Resources Law Certificate.
- University of California, Los Angeles, M.A., Geography, 1980, magna cum laude (Tropical Storm Swell and Southern California Beach Morphology, M.A. Thesis, 1980)
- University of California, Berkeley, B.A., 1976, magna cum laude
Bar Admissions
- New Mexico
- United States District Court for the District of New Mexico
- Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals
