Kathleen Doll Kapla

Experience

For nearly seven years Kathleen Doll Kapla has been assisting renewable energy developers and other businesses with real estate and title matters, environmental, title, and permitting due diligence, as well as general commercial transactions. From 2004 until 2010, she was an associate at the law firm of Stoel Rives LLP where she was active in the firm’s Renewable Energy, Solar, and Wind initiatives. Ms. Kapla’s practice continues to focus on the development, acquisition, and sale of wind, solar, and other renewable energy projects, with an emphasis on real estate, project development agreements, and related transactions. Her work includes drafting and negotiating wind and solar energy lease agreements and related contracts, representing clients in acquisition of real property assets, and conducting title and survey review and related real property due diligence in the sale or acquisition of renewable energy projects. Ms. Kapla is a member of the Oregon and Washington State Bar Associations, and is a cum laude graduate of the Lewis & Clark Northwestern School of Law, where she was Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Law.

Representative Work

Assists wind, solar, and biofuels project developers build, operate, buy and sell renewable energy projects.
Represents renewable energy developers in the negotiation and execution of real property right agreements, including leases, access and transmission easements, co-development agreements, and license contracts.
Assists clients in drafting and negotiating consulting contracts, O&M agreements, asset purchase and sale agreements, membership interest purchase agreements, and other corporate transactions relating to the operation, transfer and sale of renewable energy projects.
Advises solar energy developers in the negotiation of leases and power purchase and sale agreements for commercial and residential solar photovoltaic (PV) projects, utility-scale PV and solar thermal development leases, EPC agreements, O&M agreements, and related transactions.
Conducts due diligence investigations relating to title and real estate assets for solar and wind energy mergers and acquisitions.
Represents clients in reporting agricultural land interests under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978, 7 U.S.C. 3501 3508 (AFIDA) and state statutes relating to foreign interests in agricultural lands.

Professional Honors & Activities

Member, Women of Wind Energy, Seattle Chapter
Member, American Wind Energy Association
Member, Environment and Energy Section, Oregon State Bar Association
Pro bono attorney, Mississippi State Bar/FEMA, Hurricane Katrina Disaster Legal Assistance, 2005
Owen M. Panner American Inn of Court (2005-2009)

Civic Activities

• Mentor, Law Student Mentor Program of Lewis & Clark Law School (2005 – 2009)

Presentations

Poster Presenter, AWEA Windpower 2009: “When Good Land Rights Go Bad: Emerging Issues in Wind Energy Land Agreements,” Chicago, Illinois, May 2009.
Speaker, “Financing Small Biofuels Projects,” Making Renewable Energy Projects Happen, Portland, Oregon, Apr. 2008
Speaker, “Emerging Trends in Biofuels Finance,” American Bar Association (ABA) Business Section Meeting, Dallas, Texas, Apr. 2008
Speaker, “Overcoming Multi-jurisdictional Hurdles in Siting and Permitting Ocean and Tidal Energy Projects (Or, ‘Dude, That’s My Wave’),” POWERGEN Renewable Energy and Fuels, Las Vegas, Nevada, Feb. 2008
Moderator, “Clean Energy on the Vine,” Harvesting Clean Energy Conference VIII, Portland, Oregon, Jan. 2008

Publications

“Considerations for Negotiating Wind Project Land Agreements,” coauthor, North American Windpower magazine (April 2011)
“Severing Wind Rights Raises Legal Issues,” coauthor, North American Windpower magazine, Oct. 2010
”Wind Energy Lease Agreements,” coauthor, Chapter 1, The Law of Wind (Vols. 3, 4, and 5), Stoel Rives LLP
”Solar Project Property Rights,” coauthor, Chapter 1, Lex Helius: The Law of Solar Energy (Vol. 1), Stoel Rives LLP
”Wind Advisory,” coauthor, Los Angeles Lawyer, Magazine of Los Angeles County Bar Assoc., Jan. 2008
“ESA Incidental Take Authorizations,” coauthor, Oregon Insider Issue #360, Jan. 2005

Education

Lewis and Clark Law School, J.D., 2003, cum laude
Editor in Chief, Environmental Law, 2002-2003
Natural Resource and Environmental Law Certificate
University of Washington, B.A. English, 1993