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After two years at the Environmental Protection Agency, Richard Alonso went into private practice, and almost immediately returned to the EPA. This part of his career is stunning for a variety of reasons. He would spend another nine years in government service in increasingly complex environmental roles, eventually becoming branch chief of the Stationary Source Enforcement Branch, managing national air enforcement for stationary sources and serving as one of the agency’s key voices on Clean Air Act enforcement.
And when he eventually went back to private practice, his first stop was Bracewell, the firm he’d originally left.
“Bracewell knew that I felt that I needed more experience on the government side,” Alonso explains. “One of the partners at Bracewell told me that even if I thought doors were closed, there’s always a little crack opened, and I think the experience I obtained by going back to EPA helped open that door wider when I was ready to return to private practice.”
Growth and Mentorship from All Sides
Today, Alonso is associate general counsel at HF Sinclair, having built extensive experience in government, private practice, and multiple in-house energy roles. If you want counsel who can see energy issues from any conceivable angle, you want Alonso in the room.
At HF Sinclair, the result of the merger between HollyFrontier and Sinclair Oil, he has been energized by the organization’s young culture and the new mix of regulators and issues he now navigates. What keeps the work fresh, he says, is the unpredictability.
“Every day I come to work, I’m not sure what I’m going to be working on,” he says. “There’s going to be something new. That’s what I like.”
The attorney believes he’s found success by building his reputation slowly, building expertise from multiple angles, and spending time helping others develop.
Alonso has made mentorship a central part of his work. Most recently, he’s guiding a young attorney, Carlos Canfield, who just passed the Texas bar and joined his team, but there is likely a long line of lawyers who would cite Alonso as someone always willing to take time to talk. He is particularly proud of watching Cenovus senior legal counsel John Obery “turn into a rock star.”
“I’m not saying that because of what I did, I’m saying it because it felt good to be part of someone else’s growth,” Alonso says. “So much of what we do is based on experience, and if you can improve someone else’s practice with some of your own experience, that’s extremely gratifying.”
Every 10 Years or So
Alonso jokes that about every ten years, he needs to head in a new direction. He moved into private practice after more than a decade in government, and the motivation to go in-house, after successful stints at Bracewell and Sidley Austin, was far more personal.
The death of his brother at just fifty reframed his perspective. The often-relentless demands of private practice, while lucrative, no longer aligned with his priorities. The change has been a welcome one.
“I think it’s important to point out how encouraging my colleagues at Sidley and Bracewell were about my transition,” Alonso says. “I continue to work with them to this day. Learning what I learned in private practice benefited me by teaching me the true role of a counselor. You can disagree and litigate things and still go out to dinner afterward. I believe strongly in treating people with dignity and respect and maintaining a healthy perspective about your job.”
Even as he sought more balance, Alonso still needed a little uncertainty in the mix. He first moved to Columbus and, most recently, to Dallas for in-house roles. It’s not the speed of Washington, DC, but in moving to Dallas, he now has the chance to live in the same city as one of his two sons. On the day he spoke with Hispanic Executive, his son and his son’s girlfriend were coming over for dinner.
Staying True
Alonso grew up a Cuban American in Miami and the son of an engineer who wanted his children to aim higher than a bachelor’s degree. He initially followed his father’s path into civil engineering, but at Syracuse, he became the first law student to pursue a joint degree with the engineering department, building bridges between disciplines long before he made a career of bridging interests in complex environmental disputes.
While he doesn’t draw much attention to it, Alonso’s status as a member of the LGBTQ+ community is also an important note. Alonso says he’s always felt welcome, and who he chooses to love just simply hasn’t been an issue. He previously served on the PRIDE community at Cenovus and looks forward to engaging with the broader community in Dallas.
For younger attorneys who might find inspiration in his journey, Alonso consistently advocates for building a career in government service.
“In so many ways, it’s sink or swim,” Alonso says. “I was twenty-seven, negotiating enforcement matters with big-time law firm partners. And I was holding my own. That kind of experience is incomparable. I realize that so many attorneys graduate with mountains of debt and that it’s not always possible, but if you can swing it, it’s invaluable.”
Sidley Austin LLP’s Environmental, Health, & Safety practice is recognized worldwide for its success in handling the most complicated matters arising under environmental and natural resources laws across a broad spectrum of sectors, including transportation, conventional and alternative energy generation and distribution, petroleum exploration, development and refining, chemical manufacturing, electronics manufacturing, telecommunication services, consumer products, and other areas. We are proud to work with our former colleague Rich Alonso at HF Sinclair Corporation, and we honor his deep experience in and dedication to the field of environmental law and management.
