Matthew Price, Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel, Constellation
Tell us about your current role at Constellation.
I oversee all legal functions at Constellation: litigation, regulatory, corporate and commercial, compliance, and labor and employment, as well as corporate governance. But a fair amount of the role is thinking about business strategy, because so much of our business is interwoven with the regulatory frameworks in which we operate.
How did your time at Jenner shape your career?
Constellation was one of my main clients throughout my time at Jenner, starting from one of my earliest matters as an associate for their predecessor company before they spun out. It was in that context that I got to know the person who's currently the CEO.
One lesson for associates as they start out: you never know who your client is going to become. At the time, who knew mine would ultimately rise to the level of CEO?
I worked with them on litigation and began to learn about their business and strategic goals. That opened the opportunity to begin working with them to propose legislative initiatives and policy solutions, trying to problem-solve strategically. I think the best kind of litigation is where the case creates an opportunity to think about an important strategic problem that transcends the case. Some cases are just cases, but the best ones let you think about how to solve something bigger. Developing those relationships and showing that I could add value in a broader strategic sense is what I believe helped me get this job.
What career advice do you have for lawyers considering a move in-house?
Going in-house can be a wonderful change. It is very team-oriented and much more business-oriented than working at law firm, particularly in a litigation or regulatory practice. Your client is the business, not other lawyers, and you get to see much more clearly how legal problems fit into the bigger picture. It is also nice not to keep track of your time in tenths of an hour!
What do you see as the bigger legal and regulatory challenges facing the energy industry?
Obviously, we're all reading about data centers and the growth in electricity demand. The challenge is how we meet that demand in a way that supports economic growth while protecting families and businesses from unnecessary costs. That means making better use of the generation and grid resources we already have, keeping existing clean and reliable plants operating, ensuring that large new customers pay their fair share of the infrastructure needed to serve them, and bringing new supply online in a disciplined way. If we get those decisions right, we can strengthen reliability, maintain affordability and continue making climate progress.
Do you still keep in touch with folks from Jenner?
Definitely. Jenner is one of the law firms we rely on particularly for complex regulatory and litigation matters.
What would you say to current Jenner lawyers who are thinking about reaching out to alumni for career advice?
I reached out to a Jenner alum on a couple of occasions when I was an associate and found it genuinely helpful. The alumni network is amazing -- people have gone on to do remarkable things. I hope that people look fondly at their time at the firm and want to pay it forward to the next generation of associates coming up. Networking can feel awkward, but it's worthwhile to use that resource.
What are you most focused on right now, professionally and personally?
On the professional side, there has been a lot of regulatory attention over the last year on the rules in some of our biggest markets about how power plants can serve data centers. So, I've been spending a lot of time on that.
On the personal side, I’ve had a great summer. We just got back from the area around Toulouse, France, where we visited the Airbus factory, saw 14,000-year-old cave drawings, and climbed around on castles. That plus croissants are pretty hard to beat!
About Matt
Matt Price is Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel at Constellation, the nation's largest producer of clean, emissions-free energy. A former Co-Chair of Jenner & Block's Energy Practice, Matt spent his career at the firm focused on complex litigation and regulatory matters for energy clients. He was named a 2024 Energy MVP by Law360.