David Bono

David A. Bono has over 30 years of high-level legal experience with a focus on strategic issues faced by large commercial enterprises facing significant regulatory challenges and opportunities. Most recently he was Vice President of Law & General Counsel of U.S. Operations for the Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners, one of the largest publicly-traded, pure-play renewable power platforms in the world, responsible for all U.S. legal strategy, transactions, financings, litigation, and regulatory compliance.

For the ten years prior to being named Brookfield’s U.S. General Counsel, David was a partner at Harkins Cunningham LLP in Washington, DC. He provided strategic and regulatory counsel to large corporations, represented them in litigation regarding issues of strategic importance, and lobbied the U.S. Congress on their behalf. David’s approach to his practice was reported on in a July 2005 ABA Journal cover story entitled “The Strategic Lawyer: Companies Are Placing Premiums on Advisors Who Understand Both Business and the Big Picture.” He was previously associated with Shea & Gardner (now Goodwin Proctor LLP) and Onek, Klein & Farr, a Supreme Court litigation boutique.

David also served as an attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, DC during the Clinton administration. There, he defended federal agencies, Cabinet officers, other Executive Branch officials, as well as the Congress, against constitutional challenges to federal statutes, suits to overturn government policies and programs, and attacks on the legality of government decisions. He also initiated litigation to enforce regulatory statutes and to remedy statutory and regulatory violations. In that capacity David served as lead trial counsel on a diverse array of cases, including the federal lawsuit that prevented the Exxon Valdez from returning to Prince William Sound and suits justifying federal hiring and promotion policies against affirmative action discrimination allegations.

David is a 1986 magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, where he was an Editor of the Harvard Law Review, and a 1982 magna cum laude graduate of Duke University, where he earned a B.A. in public policy studies and economics. He was also a law clerk to the Honorable Edward R. Becker, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia.

David’s access to justice fellowship will continue his involvement with New England’s pursuit of clean renewable energy. He will be working with the Conservation Law Foundation to advocate for policies that boost deployment of carbon-free energy sources and protect against environmental harms. Specifically, David will be helping CLF advocate for reform of New England’s wholesale energy market system to ensure that clean power is delivered equitably, reliably, and cost effectively.