Sarah Johnson Phillips Named Minnesota Lawyer 2023 Top Women in Law Honoree

Minneapolis, Minn.— Stoel Rives LLP is pleased to announce that partner Sarah Johnson Phillips has been named to Minnesota Lawyer’s inaugural class of the Top Women in Law, which recognizes women who have become leaders in their practice areas and are instrumental to their companies’ success. The honorees will be celebrated at a gala event on Thursday, October 26, 2023, at Quincy Hall in northeast Minneapolis.

Johnson Phillips, who practices in Stoel Rives’ Energy Development group and is chair of the firm’s Solar Working Group, is a high-impact leader at the firm and in Minnesota’s legal and renewable energy industry. Her influential transaction work and industry advocacy through Clean Grid Alliance (CGA) is supporting growth in solar, wind, and battery energy storage projects in Minnesota and throughout the U.S. She represents some of the country’s largest renewable energy developers and investors in M&A transactions and negotiating complex project agreements, and also represents clients in energy regulatory matters before the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.

Johnson Phillips took the lead in building the firm’s highly regarded community solar practice from the Minneapolis office a decade ago. The fastest growing segment of the solar industry, community solar—in which solar developers build solar projects serving local communities—is significantly expanding access to solar energy and reducing reliance on fossil fuels across the country. Johnson Phillips advises large solar development companies on community solar development issues, permitting, and regulatory requirements, including ensuring solar projects are designed to benefit from funding under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Johnson Phillips is an active board member of CGA, an influential St. Paul-headquartered, non-profit advocacy organization committed to expanding renewable energy in the Midwest. CGA is focused on advancing public policy in regional, state, and local government to ensure the country’s renewable energy infrastructure can meet growing demand for clean energy.

Best Lawyers^® named Johnson Phillips its 2024 Minneapolis Energy Law “Lawyer of the Year.” A Twin Cities native, she began her legal career at Stoel Rives in 2010 after graduating from the University of Minnesota Law School in 2009.