John E. Rhine

John E. Rhine is a Partner at Dentons, specializing in Energy Law with a focus on carbon capture and sequestration, and coal, oil and gas law and commercial transactions. He represents many of the nation's largest mineral producers and lenders in transactions and litigation, as well as many entrants into the carbon capture and sequestration field.

John has been involved in numerous significant carbon capture and sequestration projects, including representing a client in a cement plant decarbonization project with U.S. Department of Energy funding of up to $500 million for carbon capture and sequestration in Indiana; representing a client in a multi‑state CSS project across Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania; and advising on multiple carbon capture projects in Indiana and Illinois. He successfully represented FutureGen Industrial Alliance in obtaining one of the United States' first Class VI carbon dioxide injection well permits. He also represented Alliance Resource Partners in a case against Campbell Energy, obtaining summary judgment confirmed by the Appellate Court of Illinois, and represented Keyrock Energy LLC in a Seventh Circuit case applying the Rule of Capture doctrine to vacuum pumps in gas production. He has successfully represented oil and gas producers in appellate decisions in both Illinois and Indiana determining ownership of coalbed methane.

John holds a J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Illinois College of Law (1977), where he was a member of Order of the Coif, and a B.A. from Southern Illinois University (1974). He is admitted to practice in Illinois, Indiana, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and the U.S. District Courts for the Central and Southern Districts of Illinois.

He has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in Real Estate Law (2019–2026) and Corporate Law (2024–2026) and has held a Martindale‑Hubbell AV Rating for over 30 years. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Energy & Mineral Law Foundation.