Emily Huggins Jones

Partner

202.220.6927

More ways to contact Emily Huggins Jones

Additional Languages: French

Emily provides comprehensive counsel to clients in the maritime and renewable energy sectors, handling everything from complex Jones Act compliance to negotiating multimillion-dollar offshore projects and defending clients in high-stakes litigation.

Speaking Engagements

2025 Renewable Energy Seminar
Overview
Representative Matters
Insights
Awards

Emily advises companies at the intersection of maritime and environmental law. She also provides comprehensive counsel to offshore wind developers, port and terminal developers, supply chain companies, and vessel owners/operators in the renewable energy and maritime sectors.

Emily routinely provides counsel regarding compliance with the Jones Act and related U.S. cabotage laws, as well as counseling on life cycle documentation for vessels operating in U.S. waters. This includes shipbuilding contracts, vessel financings, U.S. Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection documentation, charter parties, and BIMCOs. She also regularly advises on shipping and logistics contracting and regulatory compliance.

Emily provides counseling in connection with renewable energy project development, mergers and acquisitions, and financing transactions. She counsels clients on a full range of maritime and environmental compliance matters involving the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, RCRA, TSCA, EPCRA, Departments of Transportation, Energy, and Interior regulations, as well as state and local regulatory requirements.

  • Defending maritime companies in maritime litigation and arbitration proceedings.
  • Counseling maritime clients with respect to Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Coast Guard, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, U.S. EPA, and state equivalent environmental agencies with respect to U.S. market entry, risk mitigation, and ongoing operational compliance.
  • Representing offshore wind maritime companies in the design, construction, certification, and contracting of offshore wind vessels, including regulatory and corporate counsel.
  • Representing subsea cable vessel companies with respect to renewable energy project cable-lay installation projects in U.S. waters, including the provision of counsel on Jones Act, Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, and maritime law matters.
  • Negotiating project documentation for the construction of large marine renewable energy projects, including the development and contracting of comprehensive vessel solutions for offshore wind farm construction and O&M.
  • Negotiating port acquisition transactions, including the provision of counsel regarding environmental risk, state law redevelopment incentives, and maritime regulatory considerations, as well as drafting and negotiating stevedoring and terminal services agreements.
  • Counseling non-U.S. clients regarding contracts of affreightment, charter parties and BIMCOs, supply agreements, and advising regarding regulatory compliance with import regulations, including compliance with Coast Guard and FMC regulations for NVOCCs, freight forwarders, and property brokers.
  • The Legal 500 United States, Recommended Lawyer – Renewable/Alternative Power (2023-2024)
  • The Best Lawyers in America®: Environmental Law (2025-2026), Litigation – Environmental (2025-2026), Natural Resources Law (2025-2026)
  • Super Lawyers® Ohio Rising Star (2012-2018)
  • YWCA Women of Professional Excellence Award
Overview

Emily advises companies at the intersection of maritime and environmental law. She also provides comprehensive counsel to offshore wind developers, port and terminal developers, supply chain companies, and vessel owners/operators in the renewable energy and maritime sectors.

Emily routinely provides counsel regarding compliance with the Jones Act and related U.S. cabotage laws, as well as counseling on life cycle documentation for vessels operating in U.S. waters. This includes shipbuilding contracts, vessel financings, U.S. Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection documentation, charter parties, and BIMCOs. She also regularly advises on shipping and logistics contracting and regulatory compliance.

Emily provides counseling in connection with renewable energy project development, mergers and acquisitions, and financing transactions. She counsels clients on a full range of maritime and environmental compliance matters involving the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, RCRA, TSCA, EPCRA, Departments of Transportation, Energy, and Interior regulations, as well as state and local regulatory requirements.

Representation Matters
  • Defending maritime companies in maritime litigation and arbitration proceedings.
  • Counseling maritime clients with respect to Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Coast Guard, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, U.S. EPA, and state equivalent environmental agencies with respect to U.S. market entry, risk mitigation, and ongoing operational compliance.
  • Representing offshore wind maritime companies in the design, construction, certification, and contracting of offshore wind vessels, including regulatory and corporate counsel.
  • Representing subsea cable vessel companies with respect to renewable energy project cable-lay installation projects in U.S. waters, including the provision of counsel on Jones Act, Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, and maritime law matters.
  • Negotiating project documentation for the construction of large marine renewable energy projects, including the development and contracting of comprehensive vessel solutions for offshore wind farm construction and O&M.
  • Negotiating port acquisition transactions, including the provision of counsel regarding environmental risk, state law redevelopment incentives, and maritime regulatory considerations, as well as drafting and negotiating stevedoring and terminal services agreements.
  • Counseling non-U.S. clients regarding contracts of affreightment, charter parties and BIMCOs, supply agreements, and advising regarding regulatory compliance with import regulations, including compliance with Coast Guard and FMC regulations for NVOCCs, freight forwarders, and property brokers.
Insights

Speaking Engagements

2025 Renewable Energy Seminar

Speaking Engagements

Strafford Presentation: USTR Final Action on Port Entry Fees for Chinese-Operated, -Owned, and -Built Vessels; Non-U.S. Built Vehicle Carriers

Articles + Publications

Charting a New Course: The SHIPS Act of 2025 (Reintroduced)

Speaking Engagements

2025 Oceantic Network International Partnering Forum

See all insights from Emily Huggins Jones

Awards
  • The Legal 500 United States, Recommended Lawyer – Renewable/Alternative Power (2023-2024)
  • The Best Lawyers in America®: Environmental Law (2025-2026), Litigation – Environmental (2025-2026), Natural Resources Law (2025-2026)
  • Super Lawyers® Ohio Rising Star (2012-2018)
  • YWCA Women of Professional Excellence Award

Top areas of focus

  • Founding member, Patrons Circle of the Cleveland Ballet
  • Past board member, The Centers for Families and Children
  • Past board member, DANCECleveland
  • Member, Oceantic Network
  • Member, WISTA USA
  • Member, Transportation Editorial Advisory Board, Law360 (2023-2025)

Education

  • University of Notre Dame the Law School, J.D., 2004
  • University of Virginia, B.A., with distinction, 2000, Phi Beta Kappa

Bar Admissions

  • District of Columbia
  • Ohio
  • Virginia

Court Admissions

  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio

Languages

  • French
  • Speaker, “Onshore Wind Energy,” 2025 Renewable Energy Seminar, September 18, 2025.
  • Speaker, “USTR Final Action on Port Entry Fees for Chinese-Operated, -Owned, and -Built Vessels; Non-U.S. Built Vehicle Carriers,” Strafford, June 24, 2025.
  • Speaker, “Multipurpose Shipyards: Increasing Capacity for National Defense and Offshore Wind (Part I),” 2025 Oceantic Network International Partnering Forum, April 28-May 1, 2025.
  • Panelist, “Regional Briefing: Great Lakes Session,” Oceantic Network International Partnering Forum, April 22-25, 2024.
  • Panelist, “Attracting Private Infrastructure Capital into Offshore Wind Port Development,” Business Network for Offshore Wind OSW Port & Vessel Summit, September 21-22, 2023.
  • Speaker, “Climate and Inflation Reduction Act,” RISE 2023 Energy Summit, August 22, 2023.
  • Panelist, “Wind Energy Litigation – Future,” DRI Wind Energy Litigation Seminar, May 15, 2023.
  • Panelist, “Project Financing of Offshore Wind Projects,” Tulane Offshore Wind Conference, January 18, 2023.
  • Panelist, “Energy Communities, Offshore Wind and Permitting Reform,” Locke Lord Implementing the Inflation Reduction Act Webinar Series, December 14, 2022.
  • Moderator, “Readying American Shipyards for the Coming Vessel Demand,” Business Network for Offshore Wind OSW Port & Vessel Summit, September 27-28, 2022.
  • Speaker, “Offshore Wind Vessel Market,” TradeWinds/ReCharge Global Offshore Wind Forum, November 2, 2021.
  • Speaker, “New Market Opportunities: Renewable Energy and Offshore Wind,” P3 Conference and Expo, September 13, 2021.
  • Speaker, “An Ounce of Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Cure: Why Front-End Legal Strategy and Risk Mitigation Are Essential to Successful Project Execution in the US Offshore Wind Industry,” Business Network for Offshore Wind International Partnering Forum, August 26, 2021.
  • Speaker, “Impact of U.S. Election on Offshore Wind,” Renewable UK in conjunction with the Business Network for Offshore Wind, March 24, 2021.
  • Panelist, “Impact of the US Election on Offshore Wind and Renewable Energy,” Business Network for Offshore Wind, November 6, 2020.
  • Panelist, “The Jones Act and Vessel Solutions for the US Offshore Wind Market,” Vessel Logistics and Foundations Offshore Wind Conference, WINDPOWER Monthly, June 2020.
  • Speaker, “What’s All the Fuss About Ballast Water,” ABA Section on Energy, Environment and Resources, 49 Spring Conference, June 2020.
  • Co-author, “Charting a New Course: The SHIPS Act of 2025 (Reintroduced),” Troutman Pepper Locke, May 5, 2025. Republished in The Global Trade Law Journal November-December 2025 issue.
  • Co-author, “USTR Takes Action to Counter China’s Dominance in Maritime, Logistics, and Shipbuilding Sectors,” Troutman Pepper Locke, April 22, 2025.
  • Co-author, “Empire Wind 1 Stop-Work Order Targets Offshore Wind but Raises Questions for Other Industries,” Troutman Pepper Locke, April 18, 2025.
  • Co-author, “President Signs Executive Order to Revitalize US Maritime Industry,” Troutman Pepper Locke, April 14, 2025.
  • Co-author, “USTR Proposes Port Fees and Cargo Preference Measures to Counter China’s Maritime ‎Dominance,” Troutman Pepper Locke, March 19, 2025. Republished in The Daily Bugle on March 20, 2025.
  • Co-author, “Vineyard Wind Makes It a Clean Sweep in First Circuit Offshore Wind Decision,” Locke Lord QuickStudy, December 9, 2024.
  • Author, “Furling the Sales: Offshore Wind Developers Are Tacking Away From Higher Risk Auctions,” Locke Lord QuickStudy, October 1, 2024.
  • Co-author, “Rough Seas Ahead for U.S. Cabotage Law in the Wake of Loper Bright?” Locke Lord QuickStudy, July 26, 2024.
  • Co-author, “Latest Energy Communities Guidance Buoys Offshore Wind, but Navigation Hazards Remain,” Locke Lord QuickStudy, April 3, 2024.
  • Co-author, “BOEM Proposes to Go Another Round in the Gulf of Mexico in 2024, With Some Twists,” Locke Lord QuickStudy, March 25, 2024.
  • Co-author, “BOEM Floats Another Oregon Milestone: Final Wind Energy Areas Designated,” Locke Lord QuickStudy, February 14, 2024.
  • Co-author, “After Headwinds, 2024 May See Offshore Wind Momentum,” Law360 Expert Analysis, January 3, 2024.
  • Co-author, “Examining Proposed Regulations on Expanded ITC Under Inflation Reduction Act,” Locke Lord Deep Dive, December 19, 2023.
  • Co-author, “Treasury Issues Proposed Regulations on Expanded ITC Under Inflation Reduction Act, Boosting Storage, Offshore Wind,” Locke Lord QuickStudy, November 21, 2023.
  • Co-author, “MA, RI and CT Sign MOU to Support Offshore Wind, but Key Gaps Remain,” Locke Lord QuickStudy, October 11, 2023.
  • Co-author, “That Sinking Feeling: IRS Energy Communities Guidance May Limit Eligibility of Many Offshore Wind Projects,” Locke Lord QuickStudy, April 13, 2023.
  • Co-author, “Bridging the Gaps: Will the IRA Really Be a Game Changer for Offshore Wind?” Pratt’s Energy Law Report, April 2023.
  • Co-author, “Brownfields and the Deep Blue Sea: Offshore Wind Development and the IRA’s Energy Communities Provisions,” Locke Lord QuickStudy, February 28, 2023.
  • Co-author, “Bridging the Gaps: Will the IRA Really Be a Game Changer for Offshore Wind?” Locke Lord QuickStudy, January 3, 2023.
  • Co-author, “American Offshore Worker Fairness Act: Boon to U.S. Mariners or Blow to U.S. Offshore Wind?” Locke Lord QuickStudy, November 16, 2022.
  • Author, “COVID-19: Impact on the US Offshore Wind Industry,” Practical Law, May 2020.
  • Author, “What Will COVID-19 Mean for US Offshore Wind,” MarineLink and Offshore Engineer, April 2020.