Bob D. Sweetin
Attorney, Shareholder
EDUCATION
University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, J.D.,
2011
Brigham Young University, B.S.,
2008
aBOUT
Brent joined Davison Van Cleve in 2019 after representing residential and small commercial utility customers for six years as an Assistant Attorney General in Utah and Colorado. Brent has represented both state and private interests before public utility commissions in the inter-mountain west on issues including rate cases, resource and demand side management planning, renewable and distributed generation policies, and power purchase agreements. Specifically, and in particular, Brent represented residential interests in cost of service gas proposals in both Utah and Colorado, Including Questar’s (now Dominion) WexPro II proposal, as well as Xcel Energy’s Advanced Grid Intelligence and Security initiative and the Colorado Energy Plan.
Brent also represented state interests related to public utility taxation as a Special Assistant Attorney General in Montana. His time in Montana in private practice also allowed for experience in water law, public lands law, and environmental remediation efforts under RCRA and CERCLA, as well as electric utility matters before the Montana Public Service Commission. His current practice with Davison Van Cleve is focused on contested regulatory proceedings in the Northwest and Rocky Mountain regions.
Brent earned an LL.M. in environmental and natural resources law, with an emphasis on energy law and policy, from the University of Denver, and graduated cum laude from Vermont Law School’s top ranked environmental law program. During law school, Brent was a student clinician in Vermont Law School’s Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic, addressing issues involving RCRA, de-listing of eastern gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act, and Clean Water Act thermal discharge matters related to the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant. He also holds an MS in zoology, having invested seven years studying bat habitat use patterns across the Great Basin on behalf of numerous state and federal agencies; an opportunity that allowed for exploration of numerous abandoned hard-rock mines and caves across the Inter-Mountain West.
When away from utility law, Brent can be found teaching his children to tie dry flies and put them to good use, practicing Tae Kwon Do, or exploring the mountains in the sun or snow.
Admitted in Colorado and Oregon
Admitted and inactive in, Utah and Montana
About
Bob has practiced law in some form or another for every branch of government, at each level of government, giving him a big-picture view and real-life experience in how governmental entities interact with one another and regulated industries. Bob was raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. After living in Utah, California, Washington, D.C., and Northen Chile (where he became fluent in Spanish), he returned to Nevada in 2011.
Bob attended University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law where he was Student Body President. Bob has handled multiple jury trials as a Federal Prosecutor in the Eastern District of California, spent time working for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Capitol Hill, and in 2014 was appointed as City Attorney Mesquite, Nevada. Prior to being the City Attorney in Mesquite, Bob also spent time working for the Clark County District Attorney's Office - Criminal Division and served as a law clerk to the Honorable Gloria J. Sturman, Eighth Judicial District of Nevada.
Bob assists clients with large-scale complex energy development transactions, telecommunications matters, and commercial developments. He regularly represents clients before State and Local Governments, regulatory bodies, and advises clients in dealing with the complexities of Investor-Owned Utilities in both Nevada and California.
In 2023, Bob was appointed by Governor Joe Lombardo to serve as the attorney-member Commissioner for the Commission for Nevada's Common-Interest Communities and Condominium Hotels, hearing matters and adopting regulations regarding homeowners' associations. He also serves as a member of the City of Henderson's Civil Service Board.
Despite his deep Las Vegas roots, Bob was persuaded by his wife to call Henderson home, where they ride e-bikes around the foothills and live with their two children.
Bob is admitted to practice in the following jurisdictions:
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Nevada
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California