Professional Experience

His more recent experience includes:

  • Counsel for an international oil and gas company in litigation resulting from a release of oil from an interstate pipeline.
  • Serving as lead counsel in two major electric utility rate cases and appellate litigation in connection therewith.
  • Successful defense (including appeal) of suit by state Attorney General seeking to extend DTPA to practice of law.

Recognition

He has been named to The Best Lawyers in America© from 2001 to 2023 in the fields of Administrative / Regulatory Law, Energy Law, Information Technology Law and Litigation – Intellectual Property, and has been named the Best Lawyers’ “Lawyer of the Year” in Little Rock in the fields of:

  • Energy Law (2023):
  • Administrative / Regulatory Law (2023);
  • Energy Law (2014);
  • Administrative / Regulatory Law (2013); and
  • Energy Law (2012).

Only a single lawyer in each practice and designated metropolitan area is honored as the “Lawyer of the Year.”

He has also been included in Mid-South Super Lawyers from 2006 – 2013 and 2015 – 2019 in the categories of business litigation, intellectual property litigation and utilities. Norton has received an AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5 Peer Review Rating through LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell, www.martindale.com/ratings. Norton also received a special commendation for outstanding service from the United States Department of Justice in 1976.

Norton was a trial attorney for the United States Department of Justice in the Civil Division from 1974 to 1977. He was Deputy Attorney General for the State of Arkansas from 1977 to 1979. Norton was an adjunct professor at the University of Arkansas School of Law from 1996 to 2004, teaching Law and the Internet.

Norton has served on the National Regulatory Research Institute Board of Directors (1981-1983), National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council (1994-1996), Virtual Magistrate Program (1996), and Arkansas FOI Electronic Records Study Commission (1999-2000). He also chaired the Arkansas Public Service Commission from 1979 to 1983.

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