Jesse Medlong

Sustainability, Climate Change, Responsible Business, and ESG

• Represents a sovereign country in negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
• Advised a private equity firm on ESG considerations and risks related to the acquisition of an infrastructure monitoring technology company
• Represents an environmental nonprofit in the creation of a nature reserve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the sale of internationally tradable carbon credits generated by the reserve
• Represented an energy commodities company in an enforcement matter related to California's cap-and-trade market, helping to reverse a decision to expel the company from the market
• Advised telecommunications-solutions company on San Francisco's antidiscrimination ordinance with respect to contract bidding process

Environmental Law

• Advises multiple manufacturers and importers of FIFRA-regulated products and devices at every stage from preregistration to going to market
• Assisted a major appliance manufacturer in avoiding penalties in a record-setting FIFRA enforcement action relating to allegedly mislabeled shipments
• Advised a major glass packaging manufacturer in a regulatory enforcement action alleging violations of RCRA's sham recycling rule
• Advised electronics component manufacturer in responding to regulatory inquiries related to EPA designation of an industry-essential chemical as a high-priority substance under TSCA
• Advises a leading global provider of innovative supply chain solutions on environmental, health, and safety regulatory issues
• Represented beverage bottler in obtaining settlement and dismissal of criminal complaint alleging violations of RCRA

Other Litigation and Disputes

• Defended a global transportation firm to obtain dismissal of all claims in an action raising novel theories of liability for urban paratransit transportation providers
• Represented individuals affiliated with the licensed gaming industry in overturning a state-law ban on political contributions on First Amendment grounds, obtaining summary judgment in federal district court and affirmance on appeal
• Represents major workers' compensation insurer in defense of multiple ongoing law suits and regulatory actions

• 2020 Veterans Advanced Energy Fellow
• 2019 Marshall Memorial Fellow
• 2019 Swords to Plowshares’ Bill Brockett Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award
• 2016 San Diego Homeless Court’s Pat Radburn Award 
• 2015 New Leaders Council Fellow
• 2014 Krantz Fellow
• 2013 University of Michigan Geneva International Fellow
• 2013 recipient of S. Anthony Benton Memorial Award for scholastic excellence in international & constitutional law
• 2012 Helen L. Deroy Fellow for Scholarly Writing

• Helped develop and negotiate agreement to swap a debt in exchange for commitments to create and manage reserve area
• Served as lead drafting counsel for the Legal Services Corporation's Veterans Task Force Report on access to justice for veterans
• Successfully argued to restore the rights of veteran groups in the San Francisco War Memorial Veterans Building
• Negotiated on behalf of a developing country party under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, including as a delegate to the 2015 climate change summit in Paris
• Taught a course on pro bono to Mexican law students at Universidad Panamericana
• Coordinated research team and drafted policy paper on direct democracy for the Public International Law and Policy Group and the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Advised nonprofit corporate clients on various regulatory and civil-legal issues

• Co-author, "Preserving market integrity," HC Insider, January 15, 2021
• Co-Author, "Funding the Future: The Role of Private Parties in Internationally Financed Climate Projects," The Recorder (July 7, 2020) 
• Co-author, "A Global Firm Takes on Global Warming: DLA Piper and Georgia at the UNFCCC," International Bar Association Pro Bono Committee Spring E-Bulletin (Apr. 14, 2020)
• Co-Author, "ESG: The rise of private ordering and the role of the NCGC committee," DLA Piper's Handbook (March 26, 2020)
• Author, "What to Expect at the COP23 Climate Summit in Bonn," Pacific Council on International Policy (November 10, 2017)
• Author, "Four Issues to Follow at COP22: Will We Always Have Paris?" Pacific Council on International Policy (November 9, 2016)
• Author, "Globalization and the Ghost of Captain Ludd," Pacific Council on International Policy (October 5, 2016)
• Author, "Quantum Lawmaking: How National Security Law Happens When We’re Not Looking" 4 Nat’l Sec. L.J. 25 (2015)
• Co-author, "Remembering Our Living Veterans," The Hill (November 11, 2015)
  
• Author, "In Search of the Twilight Zone," ABA Young Lawyers Division Litigation Committee Newsletter (February, 2015)
• Co-author, "Honor to the Volunteer Attorney Who Serves Our Veterans," The Hill (November 11, 2014)
• Co-author, "2013 Warsaw Climate Change Conference: mobilizing climate finance mechanisms," DLA Piper Climate Change Alert (December 17, 2013)
• Co-author, "Courts Marshalled to Empower Veterans," Daily Journal (November 11, 2013)
• Author, "All Other Breaches: State Practice and the Geneva Conventions’ Nebulous Class of Less Discussed Prohibitions," 34 Mich. J. Int’l L. 829–856 (August 2013)

• American Bar Association
• International Bar Association
• State Bar of California
• San Francisco Bar Association
• American Society of International Law
• Pacific Council on International Policy
• Veterans of Foreign Wars
• Truman National Security Project Defense Counsel
• DLA Piper Associate Advisory Council

Civic and Charitable

• Board of Directors, BACK@YOU, a nonprofit dedicated to serving the unhoused citizens of St. Louis, Missouri
• National Veterans Legal Services Program’s inaugural Advisory Council (former)
• Swords to Plowshares Pro Bono Advisory Board (former)
• OneJustice Advisory Board (former)
• New Leaders Council