Public Utilities Law Lite

The practice of public utilities law is serious business, involving elements of accounting and engineering as well as some unique legal principles. Some observers may even find water law to be rather "dry." However, to the contrary, i would like to share some lighter moments from my experience.

My first trial experience occurred as a young associate brief case carrier for my senior partner in a case involving zoning for a large water storage tank. During the hearings, he kept interrupting the judge. Finally, the judge said: "one more interruption, and I will hold you in contempt and send you to jail." My partner turned to me and exclaimed: "take over."

The local manager of a wastewater utility client was very proud of his treatment plant and the sludge it produced. One day, he came to my office with a potato that had been grown using the dried sludge as fertilizer. It was huge and weighed two pounds on the mailroom scale. It fed a family of four.

On another occasion, the manager guided me on a tour of his treatment plant. He showed me a forest of tomato plants growing in the sludge drying beds. He explained to a wide-eyed greenhorn that tomato seeds are a complete pass-through.

I was involved in a hotly contested rate hearing for a water utility. During the testimony of my client's witnesses, the hearing officer was writing feverishly on his legal pad. I felt warm and fuzzy inside, thinking we were getting our points across. During a break, I passed by the hearing officer's desk, and could not help noticing his legal pad. All I saw was a page of doodles.

I was arguing an appeal before the Appellate Court in a case involving whether the treated effluent from a wastewater treatment facility was polluting a small creek. It is common for justices to interrupt counsel with probing questions, which sometimes derail the attorney's arguments. On this occasion, I was rolling along when suddenly one of the justices interrupted me. "How did the creek get its name?", he asked. We speculated on that for several minutes before I could get back to my issues. (We won the appeal, with the name still unsettled).

In rate cases, I always like to spend time with my witnesses preparing for the hearings. A group of witnesses from outside the state flew into Illinois for this purpose. As I patiently waited for them in a hotel conference room, I learned that they instead immediately had gone to their rooms to watch the day's episode of "General Hospital."

Early in my career, I learned a very important legal principle: never visit a wastewater treatment facility in a wool suit. I always like to see a facility that is the subject of a proceeding, as it aids in understanding the facts and issues. In my first case involving wastewater, I made such a visit. Unfortunately, all my suits were made of wool. The manager of the facility opined that a well run plant smells "earthy." I was not prepared to be that "earthy" and retired my wool suit.