Home > People

David M. DeSalle
Partner
Duane Morris LLP
Suite 1000
505 9th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20004-2166
USA

Phone: +1 202 776 7856
Fax: +1 202 478 2637
Email: dmdesalle@duanemorris.com

David M. DeSalle practices in the area of energy law, advising clients on a variety of transactional and regulatory issues and representing them before state and federal courts and regulatory agencies. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. DeSalle was counsel and government affairs coordinator for the Pennsylvania Chemical Industry Council, a statewide trade association, where he was involved in the regulatory and legislative proceedings that led to electric and natural gas deregulation and retail competition in the Commonwealth.

Mr. DeSalle's clients include electric utilities, natural gas suppliers, independent power producers, pipelines, shippers, landowners and end-users. He has worked extensively for the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc. ("Midwest ISO"), a regional transmission organization that provides open-access transmission service and monitors the high voltage transmission system throughout the Midwest United States and Manitoba, Canada, and operates one of the world's largest real-time energy markets. Mr. DeSalle has assisted the Midwest ISO in the long and complex regulatory processes that have led to the establishment of its energy markets and implementation of additional services that support reliable transmission service.

Mr. DeSalle has extensive experience with transmission planning and generation interconnection issues, especially with regard to the development of renewable energy resources in less robust areas of the electric grid. He also represents a number of business interests in the emerging regulatory and litigation matters involving the Marcellus Shale formation, a giant underground field of a natural gas-rich rock encompassing two-thirds of Pennsylvania and portions of the states of New York, Maryland and West Virginia. Mr. DeSalle is among the lawyers leading the way in the developing legal and policy battle over this largely untapped energy source.

Mr. DeSalle is a member of the firm's Diversity Committee and serves as a professional development mentor to a number of associates both within and outside of the Energy practice group.

Mr. DeSalle also performs pro bono service on behalf of the Energy Bar Association in his role as a consultant to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, where he conducts structured interviews evaluating candidates who wish to serve as federal administrative law judges.

Areas of Practice

• Energy Law

Professional Activities

• District of Columbia Bar Association
• American Bar Association
• Pennsylvania Bar Association
• Energy Bar Association

Admissions

• District of Columbia
• Pennsylvania
• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

Education

• University of Pittsburgh School of Law, J.D., 1995
• University of Notre Dame, B.A., 1992

Experience

• Duane Morris LLP
  - Partner, 2007-present
• Powell Goldstein LLP
  - Of Counsel, 2004-2007
• Dickstein Shapiro Morin & Oshinsky LLP
  - Associate, 2001-2004
• Ryan, Russell, Ogden & Seltzer LLP
  - Associate, 1997-2001
• Pennsylvania Chemical Industry Council
  - Government Affairs Coordinator/Counsel, 1995-1997

Selected Publications

• "More Pennsylvania State Forest Land Available for Drilling, Governor Announces," March 2010
• "Pennsylvania Moves to Strengthen Natural Gas Drilling Regulations," March 2010
• "Natural-Gas Tax Receipts Overly Optimistic, Industry Says," March 2010
• "Congress Investigating Fracturing," March 2010
• "Maryland Department of the Environment Looks to Impose Fees on Oil and Natural Gas Production," March 2010
• "Drilling Operations to Continue in Pennsylvania's Tioga County," March 2010
• "Could Appropriations Chair Decision Delay Severance Tax for Another Year?," January 6, 2010
• "Drillers Form Shale Coalition," January 6, 2010
• "Pending Marcellus Shale Legislation in Pennsylvania," January 6, 2010
• "Pennsylvania Mining and Drilling Industries Say Proposed Water Regulations May Cost Billions," January 6, 2010
• Co-author, "FERC Makes Enforcement Process More Transparent--May Impact Timing of SEC Disclosure," Duane Morris Alert, December 23, 2009
• Co-author, "Public Utility Holding Companies on Notice: New Compliance Requirements in January and February of 2009," Duane Morris Alert, January 7, 2009
• Co-author, "Marcellus Shale: Material Drinking Water Risks?" Duane Morris Alert, November 25, 2008

Selected Speaking Engagements

• "Transmission Access and Interconnection—Essential Ingredients to Integrate Renewables," Infocast Webinar, December 4, 2009
• "Marcellus Shale Issues and Opportunities," Duane Morris LLP Fall Meeting, October 24, 2009