William H. Hughes, Jr.

Transactions

• Representing a U.S. energy company in the negotiation of an engineer/procure/construct (EPC) contract for a $14 billion nuclear power project in the United States.
• Representing a U.S. energy company in the preparation and negotiation of EPC contracts for a $5 billion natural gas pipeline project in the United States.
• Representing a U.S.-based independent power producer in the negotiation of a $1.6 billion EPC contract and related agreements contracts for AQCS facilities at three coal-fired electric power plants in Maryland.
• Representing a China-based power company in a $944 million project to develop integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plants in Guangdong Province, including license and service agreements with Western providers.
• Representing a London-based owner in the negotiation of multiple EPC and other contracts for a $400 million tunneling and hydroelectric power project in the Peruvian Andes.
• Representing a German contractor in the negotiation of a series of EPC contracts to build the world’s largest brewery, in Mexico, at a total cost of over $900 million.
• Representing a U.S.-based contractor in negotiating the EPC agreement for a utility-scale solar power project in Arizona.
• Representing Georgia- and Texas-based electric power producers in the negotiation of EPC contracts for four separate gas-fired power generation facilities.
• Representing an Austrian company in the negotiation of design/build/own/operate/transfer (DBOOT) contracts and related agreements for privatized wastewater treatment facilities in California, Florida, Hawaii and Illinois.
• Representing a U.S. energy company in the construction of a coal-to-bio mass conversion project in New York.
• Assisting a Chinese EPC contractor with open bidding for a $1.3 billion gas-to-power project in Namibia.
• Representing a U.S. hospitality company in the negotiation of an at-risk construction management agreement for a $440 million resort and multiuse project in Florida.

Disputes

• Representing a U.S. energy company in multijurisdictional litigation involving three years of delay and $1.5 billion in alleged cost overruns on the first nuclear power project to be licensed in the United States since the Three Mile Island accident in 1979.
• Representing an Asian electric power utility in ICC arbitration relating to the design and construction of a $10 billion nuclear power project in Asia.
• Representing a U.S. energy company in multijurisdictional litigation involving a $130 million claim for defects, cost overruns and delays on an electric power project in the United States.
• Representing an energy company in multijurisdictional litigation concerning $60 million in alleged delays and cost overruns on civil work for a nuclear power project in the United States.
• Representing a U.S. energy company in multijurisdictional litigation involving $40 million in delay and defect claims on a combined-cycle electric power plant project in Massachusetts.
• Representing a Texas-based electric power producer in an $80 million lawsuit relating to a peak power generation facility in Georgia.
• Representing a Brazilian contractor in a U.S. lawsuit concerning an electric power plant near Bogotá, Colombia.
• Representing a U.S. contractor in a $60 million lawsuit arising from a commercial construction project in Mississippi.
• Representing an international hospitality company in project management issues and close-out disputes related to a $440 million hotel/residential/retail project in Florida.
• Representing a U.S. water utility in AAA arbitration concerning a drinking water production facility in Georgia.
• Representing a leading U.S. research university in seven-party multijurisdictional litigation involving $20 million in design and construction defects and related claims. 
• Representing an international insurance company in multiparty litigation involving $10 million in water intrusion defects in a high-rise office building in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Bill Hughes is recognized for his “birth-to-earth” construction law practice that includes negotiating design and construction agreements before construction begins, counseling project participants as construction proceeds and resolving disputes when construction is complete. He has negotiated agreements for more than $17 billion in construction work and has litigated or arbitrated more than $2 billion in construction claims.

Bill works with companies in the energy sector on agreements for large-scale coal, gas, solar, nuclear and hydroelectric power projects around the world. He also helps some of America’s largest and most sophisticated owners and contractors build industrial, office, multiuse, sports, health care and hospitality projects using conventional design/bid/build construction management, design/build and PPPs.

Bill has worked on projects throughout North America, South America, the Caribbean and Asia, and is co-chair of Alston & Bird’s China Practice Team. He recently helped an EPC contractor negotiate an agreement to build the world’s largest brewery in Mexico. He is a perennial member of every major published list of America’s leading construction attorneys, including Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (2003–2022), The Best Lawyers in America^© (2000–2022) and Super Lawyers (1999–2015).

Bar Admissions

• Georgia

Education

• University of Virginia (J.D., 1983)
• The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (B.A., 1980)