Profile

Paul Smyth is Of Counsel in the firm's Environment, Energy & Resources practice. His practice centers on federal permitting and enforcement issues, including permitting for solar and wind energy facilities, electric transmission lines, and oil and gas pipelines as well as defending enforcement actions against federal lessees and permittees. Recently retired as the Associate Solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Paul is the recipient of the 2010 Environment, Energy, and Resources Government Attorney of the Year Award from the American Bar Association.

He has practiced law for over thirty-seven years and has broad experience in water, public land, offshore oil and gas, onshore and offshore renewable energy resources, Indian and environmental law. Paul supervised all the legal work for the Department of Interior (DOI) Solicitor's office involving minerals and offshore alternative energy matters for the Minerals Management Service (MMS) and minerals matters for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). He also served in numerous other legal capacities within DOI's Solicitor's Office, including acting as the Secretary's interim Director of the Office of Hearings and Appeals and Counselor to the Solicitor and Director of the Indian Trust Litigation Office.