Biography

Dirk Mueller is Co-Chair of Farella's Banking Initiative. He has over 20 years of energy project development and finance experience. His practice focuses on representing project sponsors in connection with real property, project development, shared facility and finance matters, with an emphasis on negotiating and structuring complex project and site acquisition agreements, options, leases, sale-leaseback financings, rights of way, surface waivers, franchise agreements, crossing consents, joint development agreements, shared use and shared facility agreements, water supply agreements and other bespoke project development agreements.

Dirk has helped project sponsors successfully develop and finance energy projects of all types including solar, wind, geothermal, battery storage, natural gas, landfill gas, and biomass projects. He has experience assisting clients with developing projects on private, federal, state, county and Tribal property throughout the United States, including the first large-scale solar project approved to be built on tribal land in North America.

Dirk applies his knowledge and experience to help his clients navigate the legal landscape faster and more effectively, to anticipate problems and find creative, practical, time saving, cost effective and financeable solutions. He strives to build and maintain a good rapport with counterparties, even during the course of difficult negotiations, because he believes this approach will generally help achieve the best and most expeditious result for his clients, and provide them with a competitive advantage.

Dirk draws upon his project development experience to provide due diligence, purchase and sale agreement support, and counseling advice in connection with project equity and debt financing.

Dirk also represents institutional lenders, regional banks and sponsors in financing transactions, including real estate and personal property secured lending, private client lending, agricultural lending, timber finance, acquisition and construction lending, mezzanine and hard money lending and project finance. His experience encompasses a wide variety of industries, including retail, industrial and office secured real estate finance, winery and food and beverage industry financing, and traditional and renewable energy project financings.

Distinctions

  • Northern California Super Lawyers in Energy & Resources (2012-2017).
  • Best Lawyers in America in Real Estate Law (2023)

Firm Highlights

Event

23rd Annual Wine Industry Conference

Farella Braun + Martel is a Presenting Partner of the  North Bay Business Journal' s 23rd Annual Wine Industry Conference. The conference will explore new trends and challenges to the wine industry in the North Bay. Farella's Richard...

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News

WhatsApp and Facebook Take the NSO Group to Court

Kyle McLorg was interviewed for the  Shoot The Messenger: Espionage, Murder, & Pegasus Spyware  investigative podcast episode “WhatsApp and Facebook Take the NSO Group to Court” produced by Exile Media in collaboration with The...

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Publication

State Minimum Fire Safe Regulations Go Into Effect April 1, 2023

The State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection has been actively pursuing comprehensive new wildfire protection standards for development in Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones and State Responsibility Areas where the State of...

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Event

The Fine Print: A Litigator’s Perspective on Boilerplate Contract and Insurance Provisions

Join Carly Alameda and Amy Briggs in the discussion on "The Fine Print: A Litigator’s Perspective on Boilerplate Contract and Insurance Provisions" to the ACC Bay Area Chapter. Corporate counsel are often tasked with negotiating...

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News

Farella Advises TILT Holdings Inc. on $86.7 Million Debt Refinancing

Northern California legal powerhouse Farella Braun + Martel advised TILT Holdings Inc. , a global provider of cannabis business solutions that include inhalation technologies, cultivation, manufacturing, processing, brand development, and retail, on a series of...

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Event

The Fine Print: A Litigator’s Perspective on Boilerplate Contract and Insurance Provisions

Join Carly Alameda and Amy Briggs in the discussion on "The Fine Print: A Litigator’s Perspective on Boilerplate Contract and Insurance Provisions" to the ACC Bay Area Chapter. Corporate counsel are often tasked with negotiating...

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Publication

Nonprofit Basics: Conflict of Interest Policies and Best Practices for Approving Insider Compensation

Welcome to  EO Radio Show – Your Nonprofit Legal Resource . This episode is the second in a series discussing insider transactions. In episode 32, I gave a general overview of the federal laws...

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Publication

Nonprofit Basics: Best Practices for Approving Insider Compensation Decisions

Welcome to  EO Radio Show – Your Nonprofit Legal Resource . This episode is the third in a series discussing insider transactions by exempt organizations. In this episode, I'll look closely at best practices...

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News

Profile in Women Leadership - Mary McCutcheon

Mary McCutcheon Headshot
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Publication

I Always Feel Like AI Is Watching Me: Artificial Intelligence and Privacy

ChatGPT got the early press, and every day we learn of new generative artificial intelligence products that can create new and creative visual and text responses to human input. Following on ChatGPT’s fame, Google’s...

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