Simpson Thacher Poaches Weil Energy Tax Partner Lorch as Firms Race to Build Renewable and Data Centre Practices
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has hired Steven Lorch as a partner in its tax practice in New York, effective July 7, 2026. Lorch joins from Weil, Gotshal & Manges, where he built a practice centred on the U.S. tax aspects of energy and infrastructure transactions. His focus spans renewable power, energy transition, conventional energy, and data centre and fibre assets. Lorch regularly advises on complex tax equity structures, pre-tax preferred investments, and tax credit transfers in connection with U.S. investment and production tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act framework. The hire reflects sustained competition among elite firms to control the advisory pipeline on U.S. clean energy and digital infrastructure deals, sectors that continue to generate high-value, structurally complex transactions as developers and sponsors seek to monetise tax credits in an active transfer market.
Why this matters
Energy tax equity is one of the highest-margin practice lines in Big Law right now: the Inflation Reduction Act created a transferable tax credit market that requires specialist structuring counsel on every deal. Lorch's crossover expertise, spanning renewable power, conventional energy, and data centre assets, makes him unusually versatile as hyperscale data centre buildouts converge with clean energy procurement. Simpson Thacher's move signals that capital markets-anchored firms are no longer content to cede energy tax work to specialist boutiques or energy-focused platforms. Weil's loss of a named partner in this space will draw scrutiny of whether its energy tax bench remains competitive for mandates in the second half of 2026.
On the Ground
Trainees and junior associates on energy or infrastructure deals should understand how tax credit transfer mechanics affect deal structuring and pricing, this is now standard diligence territory. Expect client secondments and cross-practice working groups pairing tax and project finance teams to become more common as firms build integrated energy transaction capabilities.
Interview prep
Question you might get
“How does the Inflation Reduction Act's tax credit transfer regime change the legal work required on a renewable energy financing, and why are Big Law firms competing so aggressively for energy tax partners?”
Sign up free to see the full answer
A model answer you can lift into an interview — how to frame this story for a partner.
Sign up freeMy notes
saved