John Kennerly Davis

John Kennerly Davis, Jr.

Senior Attorney, Former Deputy Attorney General for Virginia

Ken Davis has over forty years of experience in corporate management, public service, and the private practice of law, almost all of which has involved some aspect of the continually evolving electric power industry.

Ken has advised clients about, or been responsible for, matters relating to corporate and project finance, corporate restructuring and strategic planning, the valuation of corporate investment opportunities, regulatory compliance, the regulatory analyses conducted by the federal government, and the procedures used to estimate the social costs and benefits of carbon emissions.

Combining the perspectives of an attorney, economist, and businessman, Ken writes and speaks frequently on a variety of topics related to regulation and regulatory reform, capitalism, property rights, the rule of law, and economic development. His articles have appeared in a number of publications, including The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Examiner, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Federalist Society Review, the FedSoc Blog, and reports of the Center for Strategic & International Studies.

In 2013 and 2014, Ken served as Deputy Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Virginia, responsible for matters relating to transportation, infrastructure, and land use. In that capacity, his clients included the Virginia Port Authority, Virginia Department of Transportation, and Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority. 

Before moving to Richmond, Virginia, in 1978 to begin the practice of law, Ken worked on Capitol Hill in the 1960s and 1970s, serving as legislative aide and research assistant to Congressman Delbert Latta, and as a speech writer and research assistant to Ohio’s Senator Robert Taft, Jr.

Ken graduated magna cum laude from Cornell University with a B.A. degree in Government in 1968. In 1970, he earned an M.A. degree from Pembroke College, Oxford in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. He was awarded a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in 1974 and was awarded an M.B.A. degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1993.

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