During the past two years, TotalEnergies assistant general counsel Cynthia Redwine Martinez has become one of the leading renewable energy law experts in the U.S. But it didn’t happen overnight. And it didn’t happen by accident. The path she took started a couple decades ago as the daughter of a glass-ceiling-smashing, highly respected Houston lawyer who became the first general counsel for Rice University. Fast-forward more than a decade later. Her reputation in the world of renewable and solar energy law is nearly unmatched. From the fourth quarter of 2019 to the end of 2021, Martinez has been a lead lawyer in nearly a dozen major clean energy acquisitions and joint ventures involving offshore wind operations and solar projects.
For Mark Curriden’s full profile of Cynthia Martinez Click Here.
Texas Lawbook: What are the biggest challenges facing renewable energy today?
Cynthia Martinez: A big challenge right now is a challenge for the entire U.S. solar industry … navigating uncertainty in the solar module supply market, most recently due to an investigation by the Department of Commerce into whether imports of solar panels from Southeast Asia are circumventing anti-dumping rules that limit imports from China.
Lawbook: What do you look for in hiring outside counsel?
Martinez: TotalEnergies runs a competitive process for firms to be selected on our “panel,” as well as for many of our individual transactions. The main factors I take into consideration include:
- Extensive experience in the scope of work for which we are seeking representation.
- Lawyers we enjoy working with, who anticipate our needs, are business-minded and pragmatic, responsive and proactive about presenting solutions to keep moving the ball forward.
- The firm’s willingness to partner with us in managing costs with certainty, which is one of my main responsibilities. We expect firms to provide a fee cap on most of our transactions and to hold to that fee cap without seeking an adjustment for every minor issue that arises. We expect the law firm to share in some of the risk of cost overrun in this way. Not every client can establish this type of partnership with the law firms, but TotalEnergies can because we send a huge volume of work to outside counsel.
- Any change to the fee cap due to a scope change or blown assumption should be addressed as soon as the issue is known. By closely monitoring legal costs in this way, the business has as much certainty as possible with respect to the cost of the transaction, and I am able to demonstrate my team’s (including both internal and external lawyers) delivery of exceptional results within the budget and schedule for the transaction.
Lawbook: Do you have pet peeves regarding outside counsel?
Martinez: As in any relationship, the foundation is trust, and that trust can become stronger over time or it can get diminished in an instant. I feel great when I know I have the full support and dedication of outside counsel, open and direct communication and confidence in the quality of their work and that they will deliver on their commitments. So, my biggest “pet peeve” has been those few instances when I’ve been really let down in this regard.
A few outside counsel who have earned my complete trust over the past few years are Dan Sinaiko and Andrea Lucan at Allen & Overy; Kristin Seeger at Orrick and Mike Dayen at Milbank. It is a huge load off my mind to know our work is in good hands with them.
Lawbook: What does outside counsel need to know about you?
Martinez: Outside counsel should know that even though TotalEnergies is a huge global corporate organization, TotalEnergies Renewables USA, LLC (“TERUSA”), is very much like a startup, and in many ways I feel as if it were my own. I was one of the first two employees in the U.S. working on launching the U.S. renewables businesses, now comprised of a 10-gigawatt pipeline of projects across large-scale solar, distributed solar and offshore wind, with a huge team supporting this work. I take great pride in the work we are doing and have very high expectations for myself, my team and outside counsel. I am also watching every penny in legal spend as if it were coming out of my own pocket. I want to feel that outside counsel “gets” this and shares this lean mindset.
Outside counsel should also know that it’s not always best to “think like a lawyer” – we also need them to think bigger picture about our business objectives. Sometimes, in our context, moving quickly and getting things done is more important than achieving a “perfect” outcome.
With respect to working with me in particular, outside counsel should know that I truly see them as an extension of our legal team at TERUSA, how much we rely on them and how much I value their contributions. I also have a lot of empathy for the Big Law life. I should express this more. This, and to avoid the “pet peeves” discussed above.
Lawbook: How important is pro bono and diversity in your hiring of outside counsel?
Martinez: Pro bono and diversity are major criteria in our hiring of outside counsel. There are prerequisites a firm must meet in these categories to be selected for our panel. When hiring for a specific matter, I want to be presented with a diverse group of lawyers. TERUSA, including our legal team, is comprised of a highly diverse group of people. We experience daily the ways in which diversity makes our team stronger, and we want to see diversity in our extended team as well.
Lawbook: Any life or career mentors?
Martinez: I have too many mentors to mention, but the primary ones are:
- my parents, especially my mom;
- Robin Fredrickson, a partner who trained me as an associate at Vinson & Elkins;
- Mark Begert and Andrew McCalla, who were the principals of Meridian Solar;
- Sandy Griffin, who led the corporate group at Graves Dougherty in Austin and founded her own firm, Griffin Frey, where I worked after Meridian;
- W. Skip Porter, Mitch Jacobson and Guy Hodgson are some people who exemplified “success” to me in various ways and were generous with their time with me, sharing life and career advice;
- Elizabeth Matthews, the General Counsel of TotalEnergies in the U.S.;
- and finally, Marc-Antoine Pignon and Ali Mirza, who have mentored me as we have scaled the U.S. renewables businesses at TotalEnergies.
Lawbook: What are one or two life-impacting experiences you’ve had?
Martinez: The biggest life-impacting experience in my life was finding and marrying my husband, Casey Martinez. Casey unlocked all the potential of my life. He has helped me feel more self-assured and become stronger and more confident. He is my equal partner in our marriage and in parenting our two children, Grant (6) and Sage (3).
The other biggest life-impacting experience is becoming a mother. My kids have helped me to become more empathetic and patient, to live more authentically and to be exceedingly intentional about how I spend my time and energy (mental and physical).
When I put on my wedding ring in the morning, I feel like it’s my “superhero” ring, like I can take on any challenge that comes my way and, whatever happens, it will all be fine so long as I get to come home to the love and support of my family at the end of the day.