S. Burr Eckstut

Partner, New York

Biography

“Burr is able to think through layered and nuanced legal issues and articulate guidance in a digestible and practical manner.”
Chambers & Partners 2022

Overview

Burr Eckstut is a partner in the Firm's Technology Transactions Practice. He advises clients on a wide range of transactions involving IP and technology, including licensing, development, disposition, and joint venture agreements, as well as IP aspects of M&A, growth equity, venture capital, and other corporate transactions. His clients include Fortune 100 companies, financial services firms, tech startups, and investment funds.

Burr has particular expertise in fintech and has been recognized by Chambers & Partners as a leading lawyer in the fintech industry. He has worked extensively on fintech matters involving financial markets, banking, payments, and digital assets (including cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and other applications of blockchain technology).

Burr also has significant experience advising clients in the energy and infrastructure sectors, with a particular focus on the deployment of innovative energy transition technologies in fields such as renewable energy production (including hydrogen/ammonia, solar, and wind), carbon capture, battery storage and charging systems, lithium production, sustainable fuels, and bio-fuels.

Burr has deep and broadly-applicable expertise in generative AI, machine learning, data licensing, and data analytics.

Bars and Courts
New York
Education
JD
Duke University School of Law

Order of the Coif

MA
Duke University
BA
Grinnell College
Languages
English

Experience

Select Fintech Experience

  • The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Chapter 11 case of Celsius Network, LLC.
  • Multiple fintech startups in product strategy and commercial partnerships.
  • A leading high-frequency trading firm in a wide range of financial data and technology agreements.
  • Nu, one of the world's largest digital banking platforms, on its strategic procurement of cloud services from a hyperscaler.
  • Envestnet | Yodlee in a range of open banking data agreements, including data access agreements with tier 1 financial institutions such as JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Capital One, TD Bank, and Charles Schwab.*

Select Energy Experience

  • Occidental Petroleum Corporation in its joint venture with BHE Renewables, a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, for the demonstration and deployment of TerraLithium's Direct Lithium Extraction and associated technologies to extract and commercially produce high-purity lithium compounds from geothermal brine.
  • NRG Energy, Inc., a leading integrated power company, in its US$2.8 billion acquisition of Vivint Smart Home, Inc., a leading smart home platform company, for a total transaction value of US$5.2 billion (including the assumption of debt).
  • Occidental Petroleum Corporation in the development of STRATOS, the world's largest Direct Air Capture (DAC) facility. Occidental formed a joint venture with BlackRock Inc., the world's largest asset manager, in connection with the STRATOS project with BlackRock investing US$550 million into the joint venture.
  • Aker Carbon Capture in its joint venture with Schlumberger pursuant to which Schlumberger contributed its IP and existing equipment into Aker's carbon capture business for 80% of the shares in Aker's carbon capture holding company.
  • Tallgrass Energy in a technology license agreement, engineering agreement, FEED Agreement and Engineering, Procurement and Construction Agreement for the development of a green ammonia plant, which, once completed, will become one of the largest in the United States.
  • Basalt Infrastructure Partners, a dedicated infrastructure investment firm, in its majority investment into EnviroSpark Holdings Inc., an industry leading provider of EV charging solutions.
  • Tigo Energy, Inc., a provider of innovative solar power conversion and storage products, in connection with its business combination with Roth CH Acquisition IV Co., a special purpose acquisition company.

Other Recent Experience

  • The Government of El Salvador in its 7-year strategic partnership with Google Cloud to support the country in its journey to become a technological hub in Central America.
  • IFS North America, Inc., an affiliate of Industrial and Financial Systems, IFS AB, the global cloud enterprise software company, in its acquisition of Falkonry Inc., a California-based Industrial AI software company that provides automated, high-speed data analysis to the manufacturing and defense industries.
  • F-Secure Corporation, a Finland-headquartered consumer cyber security company operating in more than 100 countries, in its US$223 million acquisition of the mobile consumer security business from Lookout, Inc.
  • Screaming Eagle Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), in its agreement to combine with the studio business of Lionsgate, which comprises its Television Studio and Motion Picture Group segments and one of the world's most valuable film and television libraries, to launch Lionsgate Studios Corp. (Lionsgate Studios).
  • MedRisk, LLC in the acquisition of Conduent Inc.'s workers' compensation and auto casualty bill review solutions and services business.
Awards and Recognition

Chambers FinTech, FinTech Legal: Payments & Lending (2022, 2023, 2024)