Heather Palmer joined Sidley Austin as a partner in its Environmental practice in Houston.

Palmer joined Sidley from Bracewell, bringing environmental regulatory knowledge and experience in handling complicated energy-related environmental transactions. She will advise clients in the energy, petrochemical, power and utility sectors and handle a variety of regulatory counseling and enforcement matters.

“In the current regulatory environment, we are seeing an uptick in the number of challenges presented to our clients in energy-related transactions,” said David Buente, co-leader of Sidley’s Environmental practice. “Heather’s substantial knowledge of the energy regulatory landscape will be beneficial in addressing various environmental concerns that may arise from transactions in the energy space.”

Sidley Austin currently employs 2,000 lawyers in 20 offices around the globe.