Hunton & Williams Enhances Governmental Relations Practice With Three New Hires.

Business Editors

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 11, 2001

International Law Firm Retains U.S. Ambassador to OAS, Senior Tax Official in First Bush Administration and Utility Executive

The law firm of Hunton & Williams announced today that it has hired the Honorable Luis Lauredo, former U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS) and U.S. Coordinator of the Summit of the Americas; James F. Miller, a former tax official in the first Bush Administration and an experienced Washington tax, foreign affairs and health care lobbyist; and Roderick B. Hastie, Director of Government Relations for Oglethorpe Power Corporation in Atlanta, Georgia and former official in the Reagan and first Bush Administrations.

Thurston Moore, Managing Partner of Hunton & Williams, commented: "We're proud and delighted to be joined by three men who have served both Republican and Democratic administrations with distinction. Their arrival builds on our existing bipartisan strengths in governmental relations, international business transactions and project finance, particularly in Latin America, enabling us to offer an unmatched ability to represent our clients' interests in dealing with the federal government. They are emblematic of our commitment to our governmental relations practice, which we anticipate will become the preeminent one of its kind in Washington, particularly in the energy and environmental areas as well as the electric utilities and high tech industries."

Mr. Miller brings many years of experience with, and in, the government to Hunton & Williams. Originally a litigator in the Tax Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, he served in the first Bush Administration as Special Counsel on health care to the Secretary of the Treasury and in the Treasury Department's Office of Tax Policy. Subsequently he developed legislative affairs practices for several Washington law firms, emphasizing strong relationships with government officials responsible for tax, international business, trade, energy, healthcare and environmental issues, in both the legislative and executive branches. Mr. Miller has represented a broad range of clients on every piece of significant tax and health care legislation over the last eight years.

"We have many attorneys with splendid governmental affairs experience, and we look forward to expanding that group," said Mr. Moore. "For some time, we've wanted to add to our governmental affairs capabilities, and in Jim Miller we've found the perfect person to build and lead that practice." Mr. Miller earned his law degree in 1977 from Columbia University, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and his B.A. magna cum laude in 1974 from Dartmouth College.

For the past two years, Ambassador Lauredo has served as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the OAS. Most recently, he was U.S. Coordinator for the third Summit of the Americas, the gathering of the 34 elected heads of state in the Western Hemisphere that was held in April 2001 in Quebec City, Canada. His previous public service includes appointments as Senior Vice President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, Commissioner of the Florida Public Service (Utilities) Commission, International Director of the Florida Department of Commerce and the President's Representative to the Southern Governors' Energy Board.

Before his appointment as OAS Ambassador Mr. Lauredo had extensive consulting experience in the private sector, where he developed expertise in energy and environmental issues, telecommunications, regulatory issues, aviation and banking. He has also been engaged in the private sector as a senior executive and director of financial institutions in Miami. Ambassador Lauredo was named one of the nation's top "100 Influential Hispanics" by Hispanic Business magazine. Ambassador Lauredo received his B.A. from Columbia University and attended the University of Madrid in Spain and Georgetown University Law Center.

"We're especially honored to have a businessman and public servant as distinguished as Ambassador Lauredo at Hunton & Williams," Mr. Moore noted. "Not only does he bring new strength to our governmental relations group, he offers us depth in Latin American relations, an area in which we're becoming more firmly entrenched, especially through the efforts of our rapidly expanding Miami office."

"Ambassador Lauredo will be the point man for many of our initiatives," Moore continued. "We're driving to increase the opportunities for our European and North American clients in Latin America, especially in areas such as project finance, taxation and mergers and acquisitions--to become the preeminent law firm for transacting business in Latin America. The Ambassador cements the commitment we've made to Latin America, already evidenced by our Miami practice group of deeply experienced, multilingual attorneys. He will be an integral part of our efforts."

Since 1993, Mr. Hastie has directed governmental relations for Oglethorpe Power, a $4.5 billion electric generation corporation, and worked with its affiliated transmission company, building and managing strategic relationships with decision makers in Congress and various federal agencies. He has devised and implemented legislative strategies for a wide array of issues facing the electric utility industry, including utility restructuring, power generation, environmental policies and utility financing.

Before coming to Oglethorpe Power he served for eight years in the Reagan Administration and the first Bush Administration. In the Department of Housing and Urban Development he served as the principal advisor to the Deputy Under Secretary for Intergovernmental Relations on various economic issues. Later he worked for President Reagan in the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, serving as a liaison between the President and locally elected officials around the country. Finally, he served as a Congressional Relations Officer in the Department of Agriculture during the first Bush Administration, where he helped win congressional approval of strategic legislative initiatives and the Senate confirmation of several Presidential nominees. While at the USDA, he developed expertise in international trade, economic development, natural resources and agriculture credit. Mr. Hastie received his Bachelor of Science degree in Public Administration in 1982 from Auburn University in Alabama.

Thurston Moore comments, "We are delighted with the opportunity to work with Rod Hastie, who has cultivated strong lobbying skills through his work in government and developed an extensive understanding of the energy industry while working in the private sector. His longstanding connections to members of Congress and current senior officials in the Bush administration as well as his expertise in energy and economic development will certainly be an asset to the firm as we continue to build our intellectual capital in diverse practice groups."

Mr. Miller will be located in Hunton & Williams' Washington office; Ambassador Lauredo will maintain offices in Miami and Washington; and Mr. Hastie will maintain offices in Washington and Atlanta.

Hunton & Williams provides legal services to corporations, financial institutions, governments and individuals as well as a broad array of other entities. Since its establishment in 1901, Hunton & Williams has grown to over 775 attorneys serving clients in 80 countries from 15 offices around the world. While Hunton & Williams' practice has a particular emphasis on corporate transactions, corporate and structured finance, energy and environmental law, governmental relations and commercial litigation, the firm's expertise extends to more than 50 separate practice areas.