Serena Rwejuna

Serena A. Rwejuna is a partner in the Energy, Infrastructure, Project and Asset Finance Group (EIPAF) where she Co-Heads the Energy Markets & Regulatory practice. Serena also serves as Co-Deputy Head for the North American Region of the White & Case Global Power Industry Group and Co-Head for the White & Case Global Green Policy, Regulation and Incentives Strategic Specialty Area. As an entrepreneurial and commercially-minded advisor who is formally trained in psychology, management, and public policy, Serena has developed a dynamic, multidisciplinary practice focused on innovation, value creation and problem solving in highly-regulated, fast-paced industries. Within EIPAF, Serena's practice focuses on advising clients on commercial, regulatory, compliance, litigation, and enforcement matters. She has experience with a variety of clean energy technologies, including solar, onshore and offshore wind, hydroelectricity, waste-to-energy, and other advanced and evolving energy technologies. Serena counsels developers, sponsors, utilities, independent power producers, pipelines, natural gas distribution companies, technology companies, financial institutions and other traditional and emerging energy industry participants on compliance with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regulations, cross-border and multijurisdictional transactions and regulatory matters, and advises them on project development, drafting and negotiating complex and bespoke commercial agreements, mergers and acquisitions, dispute resolution, and state regulatory compliance.

In her investigations, enforcement and compliance practice, Serena advises clients on proposed energy market transactions and trading strategies to avoid or mitigate enforcement risk from FERC, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), state public utility commissions (PUCs), and regional transmission organization (RTO/ISO) market monitors. Serena represents clients before various federal and state agencies while counseling them in high-stakes non-public and public audits, investigations, and enforcement proceedings. Serena also serves as Co-Chair for the American Bar Association (ABA) Environmental & Energy Litigation Committee where she is launching the committee's law student and young lawyers outreach initiative.

Serena's robust practice also includes advising clients on a broad range of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG), sustainability, and cutting-edge energy transition matters that span the broad universe of pipes and wires, energy security, and net-zero targets.

In addition to her renewables, energy transition and ESG practice, Serena also maintains a robust pro bono practice where she (i) advises non-profit organizations, Black chambers of commerce and minority-owned small businesses and entrepreneurs on business and management related matters; (ii) flexes her litigation skills representing veterans in appeals before the Board of Veteran's Appeals; and (iii) leads other domestic and international advocacy and public policy-focused projects in connection with women's, civil and human rights issues, partnering with organizations including Acumen, Human Right 2 Water, and the World Bank's Women, Business and the Law Project. Within White & Case, Serena is an active member of the Firm's Racial Justice Task Force. Within her local community, Serena holds several non-profit Board leadership roles. Serena has also been a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated for nearly two decades.

Serena was recently appointed to the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability (NI) Board of Advisors. NI conducts and supports actionable research and undertakes sustained engagement with policymakers, businesses, and communities – in addition to delivering transformative educational experiences to empower future leaders. According to NI, some of the foremost environmental leaders sit on the Institute's Board of Advisors, which has included individuals from both the public and private sector, such as the chairman of the board of Duke Energy, as well as the presidents of the Nature Conservancy and the World Wildlife Project.

A recognized industry leader, Serena was also recently appointed to the Duke Fuqua Center for Energy, Development, and the Global Environment (EDGE) Advisory Board. The EDGE Advisory Board is designed to foster close working relationships between leading business practitioners and academics to create new knowledge and solutions to energy and sustainability challenges that benefit both board members and EDGE. Advisory Board membership is by invitation only and is designed to include a diverse range of perspectives, geographies, and industries. The prestigious EDGE Advisory Board seeks to balance traditional and emerging players from across the entire energy value chain, as well as corporate sustainability leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, and other energy and environmental business stakeholders.

Serena has a long list of energy and legal industry recognitions. Serena is a four times Chambers-ranked Partner, recognized in Nationwide Energy: Electricity (Regulatory & Litigation). Serena's other repeat rankings and recognitions include the Legal 500 "Rising Star" in USA Energy Regulation: Conventional Power, Lawdragon's Leading U.S. Energy Lawyers, the Best Lawyers In America to the Ones to Watch, the National Bar Association (NBA) Nation's Best Advocates Top 40 Under 40; Thomson Reuters, Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers, and the National Black Lawyers, Top 40 Under 40.

Other standout legal recognitions include Serena being named the 2023 Energy, Natural Resources and Mining Lawyer of the Year by the Women in Business Law Awards. That same year, Serena was selected as the inaugural recipient of the Energy Bar Association's (EBA) Rising Star in Energy Award, and also recognized as a Rising Star Partner by IFLR1000 North America for Energy: Project Development.

Most recently, in 2024, Oil & Gas Investor/Hart Energy named Serena one of their prestigious Most Influential Women in Energy, recognizing her as a "multifaceted leader with a career described as a masterclass in leadership, dedication and impact."