Key Areas of Focus ■ Power supply and infrastructure ■ Site development and joint ventures ■ Tariff design and regulatory strategy ■ Energy transition and sustainability ■ Critical infrastructure protection and resilience ■ Commercial agreements
DATA CENTER Services
REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT
ENERGY & UTILITIES
CONSTRUCTION & INFRASTRUCTURE
ENVIRONMENTAL
FINANCE & BANKING
CORPORATE & M&A
TAX & TAX INCENTIVES
TECHNOLOGY, TELECOM & DATA GOVERNANCE
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS & LOBBYING
LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Intellectual Property
Data center transactions are inherently complex. A single hyperscale campus acquisition may simultaneously involve Real Estate, Energy, Environmental, Construction, Tax, Finance, Government Affairs, and Data Governance and Technology needs from day one. The following are core data center-related areas of service in which our team has experience:
Thompson Coburn Core Team
Jesse Halpern
Adrianne Clair
Bonnie Blair
Key Areas of Focus ■ Site identification & Letters of Intent ■ Purchase and sale agreements & acquisitions ■ Leases, colocation agreements & build-to-suit structures ■ Alternative energy leases ■ Title and survey review & title insurance ■ Zoning & land use approvals and entitlements ■ Easements (access, utility, fiber) ■ Real estate due diligence coordination ■ Eminent domain / condemnation defense
Katriina McGuire
Jeff Otto
Jennifer Price
Matt Buesching
Eileen Brown
Josh Adrian
Meg McNaul
Key Areas of Focus ■ Development Agreements ■ Design-build & EPC contracts ■ Contractor, Engineer & Architect agreements ■ AIA contract negotiation ■ Lien waivers & mechanics lien management ■ Owner's rep agreements ■ Commissioning & substantial completion disputes ■ Liquidated damages provisions ■ Insurance & bonding requirements
Adam Toosley
Key Areas of Focus ■ Phase I & Phase II ESA oversight ■ NEPA / state environmental review ■ Stormwater & NPDES permitting ■ Brownfield redevelopment ■ Wetlands & protected habitat issues ■ Archeological issues ■ Air quality permitting (generators) ■ Remediation agreements & liability allocation ■ PFAS & hazardous materials compliance
Crystal Kennedy
Paul Sonderegger
Sara Chamberlain
Key Areas of Focus ■ Construction loan documentation ■ Permanent financing & refinancing ■ Sale-leaseback and Synthetic Lease structures ■ REIT compliance & structuring ■ Mezzanine & preferred equity ■ Tax equity financing ■ Syndication & participation agreements ■ UCC & security interest perfection
Vicky Gilbert
Justin Newman
Finance & Banking
Key Areas of Focus ■ Entity formation & JV structuring ■ Platform acquisitions & roll-ups ■ Asset vs. stock deal structuring ■ Nondisclosure Agreements ■ Due diligence management ■ Representations & warranties insurance ■ Post-closing integration ■ Minority investment & co-investment structures
Greg Patterson
Greg Mennerick
Corporate & M&A
Key Areas of Focus ■ Opportunity Zone structuring ■ 1031 exchanges ■ Depreciation & bonus depreciation strategy ■ State & local tax (SALT) incentives ■ Transfer pricing for multi-jurisdiction platforms ■ REIT qualification & distribution requirements ■ Section 48C / ITC / PTC for renewable energy ■ Property tax abatement negotiation
Elizabeth Feldmeier
Jarrod Sharp
Tax & Tax Incentives
Key Areas of Focus ■ Colocation agreements ■ Master service agreements (MSAs) with hyperscalers/users ■ Fiber & dark fiber IRU agreements ■ Interconnection agreements (IX, cross-connects) ■ SLA negotiation & remedies ■ Network access agreements ■ Carrier-neutral / Open Access provisions ■ Data processing agreements (DPAs) ■ GDPR, CCPA & emerging state law compliance ■ Customer data handling obligations in colo agreements ■ Incident response planning & breach notification ■ FedRAMP & government cloud compliance ■ NIST / CISA cybersecurity framework alignment ■ Vendor security assessment protocols ■ Internal AI governance frameworks & acceptable use policies ■ AI risk management (NIST AI RMF) ■ Employee AI opinions & policy implementation
Michael Parks
Matt Braunel
Technology, Telecom & Data Governance
Key Areas of Focus ■ State & local incentive negotiation (tax abatements, grants) ■ Economic development agreements (EDAs) ■ Lobbying compliance & registration ■ Export controls (EAR/ITAR) for government-adjacent facilities ■ CFIUS review for foreign investment ■ Local government relations & permitting navigation ■ Federal procurement / GSA for government cloud ■ AI legislation lobbying (federal & state) ■ Energy & infrastructure policy advocacy
Jack Jacobson
Chris Murray
Government Affairs & Lobbying
Key Areas of Focus ■ Construction defect disputes ■ Contract disputes (EPC, colo, PPA) ■ Condemnation & inverse condemnation ■ Neighbor / community opposition litigation ■ Insurance coverage disputes ■ Lender enforcement actions ■ Force majeure & delay claims
Luke Sosnicki
David Duffy
Christina Berish
Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Matt Darrough
John Kingston
Key Areas of Focus ■ Software licensing in DCIM & BMS systems ■ Patent review for proprietary cooling / power systems ■ Trade secret protection for operational processes ■ Open-source license compliance ■ Data ownership provisions in colo & cloud agreements ■ AI-generated work product ownership
Key Areas of Focus ■ Power purchase agreements (PPAs) ■ Utility interconnection agreements ■ Grid connection & transmission rights ■ Renewable energy credits (RECs) & carbon offsets ■ Backup generation permitting (diesel, natural gas) ■ Rate negotiation with utilities ■ FERC & state PUC regulatory compliance ■ Battery storage agreements
Energy & Utilities
Real Estate Development
Construction & Infrastructure
Environmental
Data center development and transactions are inherently complex. A single hyperscale campus may simultaneously implicate Real Estate, Energy, Environmental, Construction, Tax, Finance, Government Affairs, and Data Governance and Technology needs from day one. Our team has experience working with data centers, electric and gas companies, and landowners on the following data center-related topics:
Key Areas of Focus ■ Transmission tariffs and rates ■ Transmission interconnection agreements and rights ■ Generator interconnection agreements and rights ■ Market-based rate authority ■ Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) and Independent System Operator (ISO) market rules and participation ■ Power purchase agreements (PPAs) ■ Critical Infrastructure Protection and North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Reliability Standards compliance
LITIGATION & RISK MITIGATION
Key Areas of Focus ■ Site identification and letters of intent ■ Purchase and sale agreements and acquisitions ■ Leases, colocation agreements and build-to-suit structures ■ Alternative energy leases ■ Title and survey review and title insurance ■ Zoning and land use approvals and entitlements ■ Easements (access, utility, fiber) ■ Real estate due diligence coordination
Key Areas of Focus ■ Development agreements ■ Design-build and EPC contracts ■ Contractor, engineer, and architect agreements ■ AIA contract negotiation ■ Lien waivers and mechanic's lien management ■ Owner's representative agreements ■ Commissioning and substantial completion disputes ■ Liquidated damages provisions ■ Insurance and bonding requirements
Key Areas of Focus ■ Phase I and Phase II ESA oversight ■ NEPA/state environmental review ■ Stormwater and NPDES permitting ■ Brownfield redevelopment ■ Wetlands and protected habitat issues ■ Archeological issues ■ Air quality permitting (generators) ■ Remediation agreements and liability allocation ■ PFAS and hazardous materials compliance
Key Areas of Focus ■ Construction loan documentation ■ Permanent financing and refinancing ■ Sale-leaseback and synthetic lease structures ■ REIT compliance and structuring ■ Mezzanine and preferred equity ■ Tax equity financing ■ Syndication and participation agreements ■ UCC and security interest perfection
Key Areas of Focus ■ Entity formation and JV structuring ■ Platform acquisitions and roll-ups ■ Asset vs. stock deal structuring ■ Nondisclosure agreements ■ Due diligence management ■ Representations and warranties insurance ■ Post-closing integration ■ Minority investment and co-investment structures
Key Areas of Focus ■ Opportunity Zone structuring ■ 1031 exchanges ■ Depreciation and bonus depreciation strategy ■ State and local tax (SALT) incentives ■ Transfer pricing for multi-jurisdiction platforms ■ REIT qualification and distribution requirements ■ Section 48C/ITC/PTC for renewable energy ■ Property tax abatement negotiation
Key Areas of Focus ■ Colocation agreements ■ Master service agreements (MSAs) with hyperscalers/users ■ Fiber and dark fiber IRU agreements ■ Interconnection agreements (IX, cross-connects) ■ SLA negotiation and remedies ■ Network access agreements ■ Carrier-neutral/open access provisions ■ Data processing agreements (DPAs) ■ GDPR, CCPA and emerging state law compliance ■ Customer data handling obligations in colo agreements ■ Incident response planning and breach notification ■ FedRAMP and government cloud compliance ■ NIST/CISA cybersecurity framework alignment ■ Vendor security assessment protocols ■ Internal AI governance frameworks/acceptable use policies ■ AI risk management (NIST AI RMF) ■ Employee AI opinions and policy implementation
Key Areas of Focus ■ State and local incentive negotiation (tax abatements, grants) ■ Economic development agreements (EDAs) ■ Lobbying compliance and registration ■ Export controls (EAR/ITAR) for government-adjacent facilities ■ CFIUS review for foreign investment ■ Local government relations and permitting navigation ■ Federal procurement/GSA for government cloud ■ AI legislation lobbying (federal and state) ■ Energy and infrastructure policy advocacy
Key Areas of Focus ■ Contract enforcement ■ Construction defect disputes ■ Contract disputes (EPC, colo, PPA) ■ Condemnation and inverse condemnation ■ Neighbor/community opposition litigation ■ Risk mitigation ■ Insurance coverage disputes ■ Lender enforcement actions ■ Force majeure and delay claims
Litigation & Risk Mitigation
Key Areas of Focus ■ Software licensing in DCIM and BMS systems ■ Patent review for proprietary cooling/power systems ■ Trade secret protection for operational processes ■ Open-source license compliance ■ Data ownership provisions in colo and cloud agreements ■ AI-generated work product ownership
Adrienne Clair
Tina Bird
Spenser Owens
Ariele Clinton
