John Buckley, Esq., P.E.

General Counsel

Charlotte Metro

About

I combine an extensive legal career with a technical foundation in environmental engineering to direct corporate strategy and compliance within the energy and infrastructure sectors. My expertise lies in resolving complex systemic challenges by bridging the gap between high-level governance and technical regulatory requirements. I focus on mitigating risk and optimizing operational efficiency to support sustainable growth and organizational integrity through rigorous, data-driven decision-making. My purpose-driven, teaching/servant leadership style with broad and highly versatile skills have translated across multiple organization types within industry, government, professional services, and academia. I offer significant experience in developing organizational cultures, talent development, coaching & mentoring, strategy development, organization effectiveness, compliance, human resources, teaching, and legal activities. My proven track record of developing people and programs, building collaborative relationships at all levels, adds value to an organization. Modeling a culture of trust, transparency, and inclusion, I utilize sound judgment, prudent risk management, and excellent legal and technical skills to enhance organizational effectiveness. In addition to informal coaching, training, and mentoring, I have regularly engaged actively in formal academic instruction, academic publication, and research throughout my career. Specialties: legal strategy, regulatory compliance, risk management, human resources development, environmental sustainability, safety culture, procurement contracts, employment law, engineering support services, information technology, and administrative management.

Experience

  • General Counsel at I-77 Express
    Jan 2022 - Present ยท 4 yrs 6 mos

    ๐๐จ๐š๐ซ๐ ๐’๐ž๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐ญ๐š๐ซ๐ฒ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐†๐ž๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐š๐ฅ ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฌ๐ž๐ฅ (internal titles) for I-77 Mobility Partners dba I-77 Express, the North Carolina operations of a multinational mobility ๐ˆ๐ง๐Ÿ๐ซ๐š๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐œ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ž company. โ–ช Served this public-private partnerships (P3 or PPP) in the mobility sector, covering aspects such as infrastructure development, financing mechanisms, investment opportunities, industry contract negotiations, employment practices, regulatory frameworks, pertinent public and legislative issues, highway operations and maintenance, toll systems, cybersecurity, and data management.

  • Adjunct Professor at Antioch University
    2021 - 2022 ยท 1 yr

    Adjunct Professor - Law Policy Ethics Sustainability (internal title) Founded in 1852, Antioch's first president โ€“ politician, abolitionist, and education reformer โ€“ Horace Mann, sought to build an Antioch whose education inspired students to seek a more socially just world. As an adjunct professor for sustainability in MBA programs, I supported Antioch's learner-centered education to empower students with the knowledge and skills to lead meaningful lives, to advance social, economic, environmental justice, and inspire social action.

  • In-House Counsel at Cintra
    Apr 2021 - Dec 2021 ยท 9 mos

    Seconded as ๐๐จ๐š๐ซ๐ ๐’๐ž๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐ญ๐š๐ซ๐ฒ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐†๐ž๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐š๐ฅ ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฌ๐ž๐ฅ (internal titles) to I-77 Mobility Partners dba I-77 Express. ๐ˆ๐ง๐Ÿ๐ซ๐š๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐œ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ž/๐“๐ซ๐š๐ง๐ฌ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง: Cintra, a subsidiary of Ferrovial, is a global, leading transportation infrastructure company, based in Austin, Texas, whose experience spans more than 50 years of innovative highway development on four continents. Seconded from this multinational mobility infrastructure company, with internal titles: Board Secretary and General Counsel for the North Carolina operations of this public private partnership (PPP), doing business as I-77 Express.

  • In-House Counsel at NAES Corporation
    Nov 2020 - Apr 2021 ยท 6 mos

    ๐’๐จ๐ฅ๐š๐ซ ๐„๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ: Provided part-time temporary in-house legal counsel to an international operations and maintenance leader focused on the energy space. โ–ช Learned new aspects of GDPR, as well as CCPA and CPRA; also learned California and other state prevailing wage rules; learned more about Solar Power, particularly regarding O&M. Finally, learned I could successfully and effectively work remotely. โ–ช Managed local UK outside counsel for GDPR privacy law contract matter. โ–ช Developed multi-state prevailing wage laws compliance and contract advice for ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฅ๐š๐ซ ๐ž๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ business. โ–ช Provided counsel on California employment law matters including CCPA compliance impact on employees.

  • General Counsel at Toshiba America Energy Systems
    2018 - 2020 ยท 2 yrs

    Initially served as ๐†๐ž๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐š๐ฅ ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฌ๐ž๐ฅ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐‚๐จ๐ซ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ž ๐’๐ž๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐ญ๐š๐ซ๐ฒ (internal title) for Toshiba America Energy Systems Corp ("TAES"), an Americas (US, Canada, Colombia) 300+employee subsidiary group of a multinational technology provider of equipment and services to medical, industrial, and energy customers. Position quickly evolved into something more akin to a ๐‚๐ก๐ข๐ž๐Ÿ ๐€๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ข๐œ๐ž๐ซ (๐‚๐€๐Ž) or ๐‚๐ก๐ข๐ž๐Ÿ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐’๐ญ๐š๐Ÿ๐Ÿ role as I was asked to lead other functions: โžŸ ๐‘๐ข๐ฌ๐ค ๐Œ๐š๐ง๐š๐ ๐ž๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ (๐ˆ๐ง๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐š๐ง๐œ๐ž) โžŸ ๐‚๐ก๐ข๐ž๐Ÿ ๐‚๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ข๐š๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ข๐œ๐ž๐ซ, โžŸ Head of ๐„๐ง๐ฏ๐ข๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ, ๐‡๐ž๐š๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก & ๐’๐š๐Ÿ๐ž๐ญ๐ฒ, and โžŸ Head of ๐“๐ซ๐š๐๐ž ๐‚๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ข๐š๐ง๐œ๐ž. Were added to my role of โžŸ ๐‚๐จ๐ซ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ž ๐’๐ž๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐ญ๐š๐ซ๐ฒ for multiple subsidiaries, and โžŸ ๐†๐ž๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐š๐ฅ ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฌ๐ž๐ฅ. โ–ช Lead a team of 8 expanding 12 providing legal, insurance, EHS, and compliance. โ–ช Advised senior leadership team and business unit in preserving $20+ million in pre-payments from bankruptcy preference / claw back by leveraging UCC rights under further assurances in a creditor rights matter with a customer that subsequently filed for bankruptcy protection. โ–ช Rebuilt, mentored, and developed legal and compliance team, including new hires. โ–ช Supported development of new ๐œ๐š๐ซ๐›๐จ๐ง ๐ฌ๐ž๐ช๐ฎ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง technology, as well as new heavy ion medical device technology used in oncology therapy. โ–ช Implemented ConvergePoint contract management software system. โ–ช Provided Corporate Secretary function, including Board meetings and minute books. โ–ช Merged business entities, including resolving of contract matters, lease assignment, account closing, and assignment of certain investment interests. โ–ช Learned hands on Trade Compliance, particularly regarding Nuclear technologies. โ–ช Oversight of risk management, and championed purchase of cybersecurity insurance.