(Note: Resume listed first and complete "CV" listed second)
RESUME
JOHN MUSICK
www.johnmusick.com 310.694.2100 john@johnmusick.com
______________________________________________________________________________
General Counsel
Know the past, prepare for the future!
Real world comprehensive innovative progressive actionable General Counsel and Special Counsel experience in water rights, water quality, energy, natural resources, environment, real estate, public works, municipal and public law and litigation with exceptional knowledge of financing, due diligence, project execution, management, rates and charges for a climate and society changing world.
“Water – Energy – Food – Climate – Society Nexus” in a changing world
PERSONAL STRENGTHS EVIDENCED BY REAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
My broad and extensive decades of reliable professional legal representation as General Counsel or Special Counsel of all types of municipal, quasi-municipal, NGO and private organizations dedicated to sound and effective applied diligent work in all matters involving law, complex multi-jurisdiction litigation, and legal counseling of all types. Experience fully described in detail on my personal web page and my extensive “CV” at www.johnmusick.com and http://www.johnmusick.com/Pages/JohnMusickCV.aspx which provide the actual detailed documented evidence of the accomplishments of my body of life work thus far. My body of life work thus far is conveniently summarized below:
Private clients include California Steel Industry, Federal White Cement, Washington Mutual Bank, Laredo National Bank, BNP Paribas, Donaldson Lufkin Jeanerette Securities Corporation.
Environmental clients include The Wildlands Conservancy, League of Women’s Voters, and National Audubon Society.
Major financing include Goldman Sachs, Plainfield Asset Management, Bankers Trust, Kennedy Funding, Bentley Capital, United Financial Mortgage, Harbinger, Saybrook Capital, DE Shaw, and numerous private equity funds worldwide.
LAW FIRM and GENERAL COUNSEL OR SPECIAL COUNSEL EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE
John Musick and Associates www.johnmusick.com provides legal services on behalf of private clients.
General Counsel or Special Counsel legal services for municipal and quasi-municipal entities provided personally by John Musick.
See full “CV” at http://www.johnmusick.com/Pages/JohnMusickCV.aspx.
WATER, GREEN TECHNOLOGY, MINERAL, ENERGY, REAL ESTATE, and OIL and GAS INVESTMENT, DUE DILIGENCE and PRIVATE GENERAL COUNSEL EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE
See full “CV” at http://www.johnmusick.com/Pages/JohnMusickCV.aspx for complete information on …
Technology and networking, science and IP creation:
Complete “CV” www.johnmusick.com and http://www.johnmusick.com/Pages/JohnMusickCV.aspx .
JOHN MUSICK
curriculum Vitae
PERSONAL
Born: To many generation farm family.
Health: Excellent and Athletic (Gentlemen of Aspen Rugby Club second row, Aspen Rugby Club and ERRFU select side USA and European tours), and decades of back country mountaineering, mountain biking and skiing.
CONTACT
EDUCATION
PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
PROFESSIONAL STRENGTHS
Law, Business, Finance, Management, Execution
Conceive, finance and execute opportunities for USA and international private business, public sector and NGO
Management of law firm and entrepreneurial businesses
Management of actual private business and public sector project development, financial documentation, financial closing and complex litigation of water rights, mineral rights, oil and gas rights, electrical and water utility, real estate and environmental protection
Management of large-scale electrical and water utility projects, real estate developments professional staff and consultants, and supervision of team due diligence on complex financial formation involving development of complex business plans, documentation and equity/debt/bond capital formation and funding with USA and international bulge bracket banks, hedge and private equity funds
Science, technology, IP creation for clients and personal projects
EMPLOYMENT as SENIOR EXECUTIVE and GENERAL COUNSEL IN PRIVATE OIL and GAS, WATER RIGHTS, ELECTRICAL and WATER UTILITY, REAL ESTATE and MINERAL RIGHTS BUSINESS DUE DILIGENCE, OPERATION and FINANCING
Currently serving as resident South American advisor to private energy entity
January 2014 to December 2017
January 2005 to December 2013
January 2005 to December 2017
January 2006 to 2008
March, 1997 to August 2004
January 1994 to July 2004
January 1994 to December 2002
January 1994 to December 2004
Non-Governmental Organization (“NGO”)
LAW FIRM
John Musick and Associates
LAW FIRM CLIENT PROJECTS
US$82,500,000 water and wastewater system for the City of Northglenn, Colorado
US$5,000,000 5-megawatt hydroelectric power plant at Ruedi Reservoir for the City of Aspen, Colorado
US$9,000,000 water system development for the City of Aspen, Colorado
US$500,000 450-kilowatt hydroelectric power plant at Maroon Creek for the City of Aspen, Colorado
US$100,000,000 toxic waste clean-up for a California steel mill
US$10,000,000 toxic waste identification for a California movie studio
US$200.0 million private 700,000 acre-foot water supply for Southern California
US$50,000,000 gravel pit, landfill, and land development project in Denver, Colorado
PROFESSIONAL LAW FIRM LEGAL EXPERIENCE
REAL ESTATE
• Served as counsel on major western regional land, electrical and water development project entitlements
• Negotiated government contracts and licenses
• Developed water supply and other utilities for master-planned communities
• Negotiated, documented and closed on complex financing for regional and local electrical and water utility projects, and master-planned communities
• Reviewed and cleaned up titles of large Western USA land assemblages for electrical and water utility, and real estate development
• Supervised drafting of real estate construction contracts, financing and closings
NATURAL RESOURCES AND ELECTRICAL AND WATER LITIGATION AND FINANCING
Hydroelectric Power Plant Licensing and Electrical Utility Law
• Lead Counsel in retrofitting and financing Ruedi Reservoir with 5-megawatt hydroelectric facilities for the City of Aspen and Pitkin County, Colorado by securing first ever FERC license for municipal utilities at a Bureau of Reclamation dam and securing interconnection and wheeling with regional T & G and local REA
• Lead Counsel in developing and financing a low-head hydroelectric facility on Maroon Creek for the City of Aspen, Colorado
• Helped organize and represent Ruedi Water and Power Authority and provided counsel on water and power development
• Negotiated a new power contract on behalf of the City of Aspen, Colorado with the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska (MEAN) and the Nebraska Municipal Power Pool (NMPP) and wheeled power 500 miles across Continental Divide as base load power for renewable energy project
• Lead Counsel in developing low-head, run of the stream hydroelectric facilities for the City of Aspen, Colorado
• Lead Counsel in negotiating and acquiring franchises for electrical power distribution
• Consulted on developing co-generation project in Nevada involving industry and an Indian Tribe
Mining, Oil and Gas
• Litigated cases and negotiated contracts involving the acquisition and development of mineral properties throughout the Western USA
• Litigated oil and gas cases, reviewed and developed royalty agreements, supervised royalty payments and tax issues
• Lead Counsel in developing a major geothermal electrical project in the San Luis Valley, Colorado
• Represented clients on issues involving permitting and licensing of sand and gravel operations
Water Rights
• Litigated the Rules and Regulations for the Arkansas and South Platte River Basins
• Litigated many of the first Plans for Augmentation
• Litigated cases which established limits on the award and transfer of conditional water rights
• Litigated establishing minimum stream flows in Colorado
• Litigated major change of water rights cases for the City of Aurora and the City of Northglenn, Colorado
• Litigated trans-mountain diversion projects from the western to the eastern slope of the Colorado Rocky Mountains
• Lead Counsel in developing the $82,500,000 Northglenn, Colorado Plan, which is successfully operating by “borrowing” water from the Farmers Reservoir and Irrigation Company. Such an arrangement promotes “cooperation not condemnation.” President Carter termed the plant “a vista of what we will see on a broad scale in the future.”
• Lead Counsel in developing the Comprehensive Water Management Plan for the City of Aspen, Colorado
• Consulted with Indian Tribes on a variety of water development, water marketing, and water rights protection issues
• Developed a computer program for the comparative cost analysis of various water supply options and detailed asset valuation
• Performed in-depth title examinations of large water rights acquisitions
• Selected and purchased many millions of dollars’ worth of water rights for numerous clients
• Lead Counsel in developing a major basin-wide water project to export water to Southern California
• Litigated a significant case seeking to limit the role of the Bureau of Reclamation in its water supply contracts
• Litigated a significant case applying theories of water law to the reassessment of real property in Colorado
• Counsel to a significant California Bank on secured asset protection
• Counsel to investors on the purchase of a bottled water company in California
• Counsel to a major California steel mill on water rights and environmental remediation
• Counsel to large California land development
• Counsel to developers of a natural gas electrical co-generation project with the MOAPA Band of Paiutes in Las Vegas, Nevada
• Counsel to dozens of land developer water and sanitation districts throughout the West
• Special Counsel to Reno, Nevada on water utility issues
• Special Counsel to numerous cities, counties, and public authorities on water and electric utility issues throughout the Western USA
• General Counsel to water exploration and development company operating in Southern California and Hawai’i
Water Quality
• Litigated cases under the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act, and Administrative Procedure Act
• Lead Counsel in developing and financing multi-million dollar water supply and wastewater systems for municipalities, water and sanitation districts, and many land developers
• Represented a California steel mill on water quality and toxic waste issues
ENVIRONMENTAL LITIGATION
Air Quality
• Consulted with trial counsel on litigation under Clean Air Act regarding the Denver air quality plan
Hazardous Waste
• Represented clients on federal and state laws affecting the generation, transport, and disposal of hazardous waste
• Consulted with trial counsel on major toxic waste litigation involving closing of a toxic waste dump
• Consulted with counsel on superfund site settlement
• Represented two major movie studios and one steel mill on toxic waste issues
GENERAL CIVIL LITIGATION
Administrative
• Represented clients before administrative branches of the federal, state, and local governments on environmental, electrical and water utility projects, natural resources, and real estate issues
• Litigated cases challenging and supporting agency action on environmental, electrical and water utility projects, natural resources, and real estate issues
• Participated in agency rule making on environmental, natural resources, and real estate issues
Condemnation
• Litigated condemnation cases involving real estate, mineral properties, and water rights
Financing and Valuation
• Consulted with and assisted clients in developing due diligence for financing strategies for electrical and water utility development, environmental and natural resource clean-up projects, and documented and closed on financing
• Performed due diligence and valuation analysis on purchase and sale of real estate and water rights for projects in the hundreds of millions of dollars
• Developed comparative due diligence and financing strategies and valuations of environmental, natural resource, real estate, and electrical and water projects
General Litigation
• Won US$6,350,000 lender liability jury award which was affirmed on appeal and paid
• Consulted and litigated nationwide on lender liability and subrogation cases
• Litigated securities cases
• Lead Counsel in major property tax reassessment case
Land Use
• Litigated cases involving the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976
• Litigated cases involving annexation, land use, and zoning issues
• Prepared laws governing real estate and water rights dedications
Local Government
• Represented local governments, including special districts and authorities
• Created ordinances and resolutions for local governments relating to water rates, wastewater rates, electric rates, water use, water quality maintenance, and water conservation, and originated and closed on project financing
• Litigated cases against local governments
Pro Bono Representation
• Consulted with and represented numerous Western USA and national USA environmental groups in contested litigation on environmental issues
• Represented the League of Women Voters and Audubon Society in successfully litigating the case to establish minimum stream flows in Colorado
• Counsel to a group of native Hawai’ian groups seeking to retain their ancestral water rights
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS
• “Water Wars.” Vistas West Magazine
• “Roaring Real Estate - Avoiding Surprises: Follow a Checklist Before You Decide to Buy.” United Express Destinations
• “Lender Liability.” United Express Destinations
• “Piggybacking Southern California’s Water Flows Offers Answer to Droughts.” Points West
• “Water and the West.” United Express Destinations
• “Reweave the Gordian Knot: Water Futures, Water Marketing and Western Water Mythology.” 35th Annual Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute
• “Colorado Municipal Liability after Annexing a Potential Superfund Site.” The Colorado Lawyer, Vol. 16, No. 2
• Shopping for Sewage Treatment, Chapter 12, “Western Water Rights and Land Application.” Clean Water Fund, sponsored by the Environmental Policy Institute and the Clean Water Fund
• “Geothermal Resources: An Alternative Energy Resource which is Gathering Steam.” Land & Water Law Review, Vol. XIII
• “Archaeology and the Law.” The Missouri Archaeologist, Col. 35, Nos. 1-2
• “Prospecting and Discovery” American Law of Mining, Vol. 1
• “Finders Keepers - or the New Statutory Law of Treasure Trove and Related Subjects” Natural Resources Lawyer, Vol. 5
In-Office Research Reports
• An Introduction to Colorado Water Law
• Colorado’s Water Export Embargo
• Legal Entities for Management, Development and Control of Water Resources in Colorado
• Sample Materials for the Development of Comprehensive County Utility Plans
• Agricultural Reuse of Municipal Wastewater in the Imperial Valley
• Colorado Water Law and Clean Water by Irrigation and Sewage Effluent
• Comments in Response to Federal Water Resource Policy Study
• A Revised Federal Water Resource Management Program
• Selected Growth Control Measures in Colorado
• A Briefing Paper on Critical Water Supply Variables for Energy Development in the Upper Colorado River Basin
• A River Basin Authority: Rural Counties Solve Rural and Urban Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment Problems
• Sample Municipal Ordinances for Local Control of Natural Resources
• Conceptual Outlines of Privatization Opportunities in Water Project Development
• Reclaiming Municipal Wastewater for Agricultural Use and Groundwater Considerations of Such Use
Presentations
• Colorado Water Officials Association Annual Meeting, “Waste, Salvage and Save: Future Water Management,” Grand Junction, Colorado
• 10th People’s Water Conference, “Water for the 21st Century,” Honolulu, Hawaii
• Telluride Institute, Ideas Festival: Water: The Citizens Guide to the Upper San Miguel River Basin
• Denver University, Water Rights Marketing Seminar
• Telluride Institute, Ideas Festival: Energy
• Colorado Bar Association, Continuing Legal Education
• Aspen Business Men’s Club Luncheon
• POWER Annual Meeting
• Colorado Mountain College Water Workshop
• 35th Annual Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute
• Colorado County Attorneys’ Association Annual Meeting
• University of Hawaii, William S. Richardson School of Law, Water Law Seminar
• Hawaii Institute for Continuing Legal Education, Water Code and Hazardous Waste Seminar
• Colorado Bar Association, Continuing Legal Education
• Energy Resource Educators
• University of Colorado, School of Law, Colorado Water Issues and Options
• Colorado Forum
• Denver University, Natural Resources Society
• Colorado State University, Water Issues Forum
• Association of Western State Engineers
• Colorado Water Issues Forum
• Colorado Water Congress
• Western States Water Council
• League of Women Voters
• University of Colorado Environmental Workshop
• University of Colorado Oil Shale Workshop
• Farmers Union
• Aspen Center for Environmental Studies
• Aspen Rotary
• American Association of Retired Persons
• Western Colorado Rural Communities Institute, Water Workshop
• Environmental Policy Institute/Clean Water Fund
• Aspen Institute/Aspen Community Interaction Institute
• Western State College, Water Issues Program
• Claremont College, California
• Colorado Special Districts Association Workshop
• 35th Annual American Association of Archaeologists Meeting, San Francisco
Press and Publication Coverage
John Musick has been quoted in:
• R. Gottlieb, A Life of Its Own: The Policies and Power of Water.
• J.R. Shaffer and L. A. Stevens, Future Water.
• Time Magazine
• Venture Magazine
• The Wall Street Journal
• The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California
• The Aspen Times (numerous times), Aspen, Colorado
• The Aspen Daily News (numerous times), Aspen, Colorado
• Star-Tribune, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• San Diego Union (numerous times), San Diego, California
• The Antelope Valley Press, Palmdale, California
• U.S. Water News
• The Rocky Mountain News (numerous times), Denver, Colorado
• The Denver Post (numerous times), Denver, Colorado
• Northglenn Sentinel (numerous times), Northglenn, Colorado
• Grand Junction Sentinel (numerous times), Grand Junction, Colorado
• High Country News (numerous times)
• Meeker Herald (numerous times), Meeker, Colorado
• Roaring Fork Sunday (numerous times)
John Musick appeared in television coverage on:
• KMGH Channel 7, Denver, Colorado
• KGTV Channel 10, San Diego, California
Awards
These awards were made to John Musick law firm for projects on which he assisted:
• American Consulting Engineers Council, Honor Award
• Consulting Engineering Council of Colorado, Engineering Excellence Award
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Tribute of Appreciation
• PLAN Boulder County Annual Award
APPELLATE EXPERIENCE
• U.S. v. Bell, 724 P.2d 631 (Colo.).
• Bar 70 Enterprises, Inc. v. Tosco Corp., 703 P.2d 1297 (Colo.).
• City of Aspen v. Colorado River Water Conservation Dist., 696 P.2d 758 (Colo.).
• State Dept. of Natural Resources, Div. of Water Resources, State Engineer v. Southwestern Colorado Water Conservation Dist., 671 P.2d 1294 (Colo.), cert. denied 466 U.S.944, 104 S. Ct. 1929.
• Colorado River Water Conservation Dist. v. City and County of Denver, 640 P.2d 1139 (Colo.).
• Dry Creek Land and Livestock Co. v. Gulf Oil Corp., 80 SA 400 (Colo.).
• Town of DeBeque v. Enewold, 199 Colo. 110, 606 P.2d 48 (Colo.).
• Fairmont Cemetery Assn. v. Reithman Ditch Co., 80 CA 283 (Colo.) cert. denied (Colo.).
• Colorado River Water Conservation Dist. v. Colorado Water Conservation Bd., 197 Colo. 469, 594 P.2d 570 (Colo.).
• Purgatoire River Water Conservancy Dist. v. Highland Irrigation Co., 574 P.2d 83 (Colo.).
• City of Boulder v. Boulder and Left Hand Ditch Co., 192 Colo. 219, 557 P.2d 1182 (Colo.).
• Twin Lakes Reservoir and Canal Co. v. City of Aspen, 192 Colo. 209, 557 P.2d 825 (Colo.).
• Twin Lakes Reservoir and Canal Co. v. City of Aspen, 193 Colo. 478, 568 P.2d 45 (Colo.).
• Bunger v. Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Assn., 192 Colo. 159, 557 P.2d 389 (Colo.).
• Upper Harmony Ditch Co. v. Carwin, 189 Colo. 190, 539 P.2d 1282 (Colo.).
REFERENCES AVAILABLE ON REQUEST
Copyright © 2023 John Musick - All Rights Reserved.