Atty. Susan H. Mac Cormac
Susan Mac Cormac is a partner in the Corporate Department of Morrison & Foerster’s San Francisco office. She serves as co-chair of the Clean Technology and Renewable Energy Group and the Private Equity and Venture Investment Practice.
Profile Summary
About Susan H. Mac Cormac at a glance
Susan H. Mac Cormac is a energy attorney based in San Francisco, California, practicing at Morrison Foerster. Admitted to practice in New York, New York State Bar Association and California, The State Bar of California. Educated at Duke University (J.D., 1993) and Williams College (BA). Recognitions include Best Lawyers in America — Energy Law (2026), Best Lawyers in America — Additional Areas of Practice: (2026), and Best Lawyers in America — CleanTech Law (2026). Serands clients in San Francisco, CA and the surrounding metropolitan area.
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About
- Susan Mac Cormac is a partner in the Corporate Department of Morrison & Foerster’s San Francisco office
- She serves as co-chair of the Clean Technology and Renewable Energy Group and the Private Equity and Venture Investment Practice
- Ms. Mac Cormac has extensive experience representing startup to late-stage private companies primarily in the clean technology, renewable energy and sustainable space
- She provides corporate and finance advice in connection with equity and debt financings, mergers, acquisitions, asset purchases and sales, reorganizations, and joint ventures
- She regularly advises boards of private and public companies, special committees, and CEOs on corporate governance as it relates to sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issues and has joined the faculty (teaching on issues of sustainability and corporate governance) at both the Stanford Director’s College and the Northwestern Corporate Counsel Institute
- In addition to her representation of nonprofit corporations involved with Sustainability and CSR, providing advice to their boards on fiduciary issues, conflicts of interest, and other corporate matters, she has deep experience and expertise in structure for nonprofit/for-profit “Hybrids” and new corporate forms
- Ms. Mac Cormac’s representative clean technology and sustainable clients include Arcadia, Boxer Industries, Change.org, CH4 Biogas, ClimateEarth, Deep Water Desal, Drip Drop, driptech, EDF Renewable Energy, Frontier Renewables, LightSail, MADA Power, OneSun, Planet Labs and Revolution Foods
- Her representative sustainable and social enterprise company clients include Digital Divide Data, Keplers 2020, Rising Sun Energy, Windowfarms and Year Up
- Her nonprofit clients include Business for Social Responsibility, Goodwill, The Nature Conservancy, Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council, SASB and Rising Sun Energy
- Her impact investor and venture fund clients include Buchanan Investments, Capricorn/Virgo, Brightpath Capital Partners, Eagle Cliff Partners, Kleiner Perkins, New Island Capital, Omidyar Network, Pacific Community Ventures, RSF Social Finance and OPIC
- After working in New York for three years, Ms. Mac Cormac joined the firm as an associate in 1997 and became a partner in 2001
- Ms. Mac Cormac was born in Davidson, North Carolina, and graduated in 1988 from Williams College with a degree in Political Economy
- She received her J.D. and LL.M. degrees from Duke University School of Law in 1993
- Ms. Mac Cormac lives in the Presidio National Park with her husband and three young boys (Eddie, Alex, and Matthew)
- Ms. Mac Cormac was named by California Lawyer as one of the 2012 California Lawyers of the Year for her effective legislative change in California as co-chair of the Working Group for the Flexible Purpose Corporation
- She was recognized by the Daily Journal on several Top Lawyers in California lists including Top 100 Lawyers (2012), Top Female Lawyers (2011 and 2012), and Top 25 Clean Tech Lawyers (2011)
- Ms. Mac Cormac was selected by her peers for Best Lawyers in America 2011-2014 and was named Best Lawyers’ 2014 San Francisco Energy Law “Lawyer of the Year.” She was also recognized by clients in Legal 500 United States 2009-2012 for her expertise working with venture capitalists and emerging companies
- Clients say that “you cannot get a better corporate counsel,” and that Ms. Mac Cormac “‘understands the big picture, could not be more responsive and understands the business.” She is on the Board of Directors of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the Biomimicry Institute
- She is admitted to practice in both California and New York
Practice Areas Explained
Susan H. Mac Cormac's Areas of Practice
Each practice area below reflects the types of cases Susan H. Mac Cormac handles, with a brief overview of what that area of law covers.
Energy attorneys for oil & gas, renewables, utility regulation, and energy sector transactions.
Susan H. Mac Cormac is one of 36,230 energy attorneys indexed nationally. Browse energy attorneys in California →
Jurisdictional Context
Why local counsel matters in California
Practicing law in California. Legal matters in California are governed by state-specific rules of civil and criminal procedure, statutes of limitations, and substantive law. Cases originating in San Francisco are typically filed in the local municipal court or the appropriate California state district court, depending on subject matter and amount in controversy. An attorney licensed in California brings working knowledge of local procedural deadlines, judicial practices in this andnue, and the substantive law that applies to cases brought here. Out-of-state attorneys generally cannot represent clients in California courts without local counsel or pro hac vice admission.
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