The Best Lawyers in America®
Recognized for Derivatives and Futures Law since 2007.
6 Lawyer of the Year Awards
Houston — Derivatives and Futures Law
2012, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2024, and 2026.
Energy • Commodities • Risk
Counsel for the decisions that shape your trading business.
Transactions, bankruptcy representation, trading disputes, credit exposure, and regulatory inquiries. Legal advice grounded in how energy and commodities markets actually work.
Work directly with Paul Turner, an experienced advisor to trading desks, risk teams, and in-house counsel.
Paul B. Turner / Principal, Turner Commodities Law
Awards and recognition
Recognized for expertise and client service.
The Legal 500 U.S.
Energy: Regulatory
Power & Renewables
BTI client-service recognition
Client-service honor, 2016.
Houston Business Journal
Who’s Who in Energy
2014–2015 and 2016–2017.
Corporate INTL
- Texas Derivatives & Futures Law Lawyer of the Year — 2025
- Texas Derivatives & Futures Law Lawyer of the Year — 2024
- Texas Energy Transactional Lawyer of the Year — 2025
- Texas Energy Transactional Lawyer of the Year — 2024
Marquis Who’s Who in America
Selected for inclusion in 2024.
The Lawyer Network
Energy Transactional Lawyer of the Year — Texas, 2023.
How TCL can help
Start with the business decision.
Trading and structured transactions
Master agreements, structured supply, hedging, prepayments, and intermediation.
Explore this work →Power procurement and generation
Power supply, tolling, renewable procurement, and ERCOT market interfaces.
Explore this work →Bankruptcy, credit and disputes
Bankruptcy representation, safe harbors, claims, collateral, close-out, and trading disputes.
Explore this work →Compliance and investigations
Market conduct, new-market entry, and FERC, CFTC, ISO/RTO inquiries.
Explore this work →Representative career experience
Commercial context. Practical judgment.
Corporate VPPA strategy
A procurement process grounded in market realities.
Helped a corporate buyer evaluate decarbonization alternatives, understand power-market and settlement risks, establish consistent terms for bids, and negotiate a VPPA aligned with its commercial and disclosure objectives.
ISO trading inquiry
A response that explains the trading logic.
Represented a market participant in an inquiry involving virtual and congestion-related trading. Coordinated trading and settlement data, bidding explanations, and compliance controls to support a coherent response.
Texas REP acquisition
Energy-market expertise alongside the M&A team.
Integrated PUCT requirements, ERCOT credit, customer-transition issues, wholesale supply, and hedging into an acquisition involving a distressed retail electric provider under a compressed timetable.
Bankruptcy representation
Protecting trading rights through the bankruptcy process.
Paul has represented numerous non-debtor market participants in major energy and commodities bankruptcies, as well as market participants in their own bankruptcies. His work includes safe-harbor analysis, termination and liquidation, collateral, setoff and netting, claims and administrative-expense issues, valuation, and bankruptcy-related disputes.
Industry leadership
Engaged with the businesses shaping energy markets.
Committee of Chief Risk Officers (CCRO)
Board Member and Corporate Secretary.
Industry involvement in energy risk management and governance.
CCRO Corner →TruMarx Data Partners
Advisory Committee Member.
Advisory involvement with an energy and commodities technology business.
TruMarx advisory committee →How to engage TCL
Support that fits the work.
Transaction support
Structuring, negotiation, documentation, and closing support for an individual deal or a portfolio.
Ongoing senior counsel
Additional capacity for trading desks, risk groups, and in-house legal teams, with direct access to Paul.
Defined projects
Compliance frameworks, documentation playbooks, governance reviews, and tailored team training.
Bankruptcy and investigations
Representation and focused support for bankruptcy matters, trading disputes, counterparty defaults, and regulatory inquiries.
From Energy Evolution Law
Selected insights
Texas Dropped the Interconnection Fee. It Did Not Drop the Collateral.
Paul B. Turner | Turner Commodities Law, PLLC
Examines the financial commitments under Texas’s adopted large-load interconnection rule, including study fees, intermediate and SLLIA security, collateral release, treatment of existing and Batch Zero projects, and the separate ERCOT data-center review.
Read the analysis →Powering the Hyperscaler: A Legal and Commercial Guide to Gas, Power, Trading and Regulatory Risk in Serving Data Centers in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas
Paul Turner, Principal, Turner Commodities Law, PLLC; James Guy, Principal, Deacon Law Group, PLLC
A guide to the interlocking gas, generation, power, retail service, ERCOT, hedging, credit, and development obligations involved in serving hyperscale data centers, with a practical approval checklist and a focus on risks between contracts.
Read the analysis →Senate Permitting Bill Would Broaden FERC Transmission Siting—and Add New Data-Center Cost Protections
The Senate permitting proposal would broaden federal transmission siting outside ERCOT and add separate data-center cost and financial-assurance protections. This alert explains the ERCOT carveout, the 20 MW covered-load threshold, and the interaction with current PUCT and ERCOT requirements.
Read the analysis →Certified Natural Gas and the Integrity Gap: Market Structure, Verification Risk, and the Emerging Institutions of Environmental Commodity Markets
Examines the emerging market for certified natural gas, including methane-intensity measurement, verification risk, chain-of-custody and double-counting concerns, and the development of trading platforms and institutional infrastructure designed to improve market integrity.
Read the analysis →SEC Climate Disclosure Rule: Regulatory Limbo (Still Effective, Not Enforced)
A January 2026 assessment of climate-disclosure uncertainty, compliance exposure, and practical governance considerations.
Read the analysis →Discuss your next decision with Paul.
A transaction, a trading question, or a developing counterparty risk.