Vinson & Elkins Adds Jorge Medina, Bolstering Tax and Energy Transition Practices

Vinson & Elkins announced today that it has added Jorge Medina as a partner in its Tax Practice. Medina is a leading practitioner in tax equity and other transactions across the energy transition.  He represents many of the top sponsors and tax equity investors in solar, wind, energy storage, hydrogen, renewable natural gas, carbon capture, geothermal, biofuels and electric vehicle transactions.

Medina joins from Shearman & Sterling, where he was a partner in the firm’s Project Development & Finance Practices and Head of Renewables (Americas). He previously served as associate general counsel-tax at Tesla Inc. and, prior to that, as vice president and deputy general counsel at SolarCity, which was acquired by Tesla.

“Jorge’s breadth of experience will be a tremendous asset to our clients,” said Vinson & Elkins Chair Keith Fullenweider. “He joins at the perfect time as we expect continuing and substantial demand for investment in the energy transition, particularly transactions structured to benefit from the tax credits and other features available in the Inflation Reduction Act.”

Vinson & Elkins Tax Partner Sean Moran, who is one of the leaders of  the firm’s Energy Transition Practice and previously worked with Medina, added: “I can attest both to Jorge’s deep familiarity with all types of tax equity structures and to his collaborative work style. He fits in perfectly with our culture and will be a vital part of our leading Energy Transition and Tax Practices.”

Medina said he was attracted to Vinson & Elkins because of its reputation and his close working relationship with many lawyers at the firm. “I know first-hand that Vinson & Elkins has the deepest bench of any firm serving clients investing in the energy transition. The firm delivers first-class service to its clients and is highly regarded across the industry. I am excited to join this team and to help them continue to build their market leading platform.”

Medina earned his Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from San Francisco State University and his Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.

Fueled by the federal Inflation Reduction Act and the Build Back Better Act, Vinson & Elkins in 2023 completed more than 45 tax equity and tax credit transfer transactions for a wide variety of clients, in addition to working on landmark M&A and project finance transactions in the energy industry. Chambers USA named Vinson & Elkins the  Energy & Projects law firm of the year in 2023, noting it is “one of the firms at the forefront of the energy transition movement, helping major companies with . . . the development of new technology to support the industry with this shift to low and zero carbon sources.”