Christina Hightower

Christina Hightower serves as outside general counsel and project counsel to owners, developers, and businesses, advising on complex transactions, commercial operations, and strategic legal issues. Her practice focuses on large-scale energy, data center, infrastructure, power generation, and construction projects. She also represents clients in complex commercial litigation and arbitration arising from major projects and other business relationships.

With nearly a decade of private-practice and in-house experience, Christina works directly with executives, boards, and commercial, procurement, and operations teams on matters ranging from day-to-day legal questions to major capital projects. Clients rely on her to identify material legal risks, distinguish them from commercial decisions, and translate legal analysis into practical recommendations that keep business moving. She understands how contractual positions intersect with operational, financing, insurance, and schedule considerations and helps clients develop solutions that advance their broader objectives.

Christina has significant experience with projects supporting hyperscale data center developments, including the procurement and construction of power generation and related infrastructure. She serves as day-to-day commercial and project counsel to owners and developers, advising on EPC and procurement strategy, contract structuring, risk allocation, project execution, and complex terms and conditions for major equipment and services. She has negotiated billions of dollars in agreements supporting EPC, procurement, construction, and offtake requirements.

Before returning to private practice, Christina served as commercial counsel for a publicly traded developer of a multibillion-dollar liquefied natural gas pipeline and terminal project. As primary counsel to the pipeline business, she worked directly with its president, commercial executives, and other department leaders, coordinated cross-functional teams, and negotiated major project agreements with counterparties. The business relationships she developed in-house have continued into private practice, with former executives and commercial colleagues continuing to seek her counsel on transactions, regulatory matters, disputes, and strategic risk.

As outside general counsel, Christina advises businesses and senior leadership on commercial agreements, corporate governance, compliance, operational policies, claims and disputes, and other day-to-day legal matters. She also serves as Corporate Secretary and trusted advisor to boards on fiduciary obligations and strategic risk management. When specialized expertise is required, Christina coordinates with other counsel while remaining the client's central point of strategy and accountability.

Christina's substantial commercial litigation and arbitration experience informs her transactional and outside-general-counsel work. She understands how contract provisions are tested when projects encounter delays, performance issues, cost overruns, payment disputes, or other challenges and uses that perspective to identify and address risks during negotiation. When disputes arise, she helps clients assess them early, preserve their rights, and pursue practical resolution.

Read More Read Less