Winstead opened an office in Nashville on Tuesday, bolstering its strength in the real estate sector. The Music City outpost is the firm’s ninth overall and third outside of Texas.
Jeff Matthews, Winstead’s chairman and CEO, said that the firm has worked with many of the region’s most sophisticated owners and developers on large regional real estate development projects. The firm’s first representation in Nashville was the Omni Nashville Hotel in 2013, and it has also aided on projects in The Gulch neighborhood including The Pullman Nashville and 1200 Broadway.
“Nashville is poised for explosive growth,” said Matthews, who sees similarities in Nashville with Houston and Austin. “The timing is right to add a new office. We have tremendous momentum; this is just the beginning of our strategic growth in Nashville.”
The Dallas-based firm has recruited construction lawyers Christopher Dunn, Keith Randall, and Will Stout; land use attorney Emily Lamb; and commercial litigator Jeremy Oliver to be the foundation of the new office. Dunn and Oliver have been tapped for leadership positions at the firm, co-chair of the Business & Transaction Department for the former and Nashville office managing shareholder for the latter.
Noting the firm advised on deals in 46 states last year, Matthews emphasized it takes more than doing deals in a locale to invest in an office. The firm developed a significant track record with the new Winstead team as local counsel on various projects and decided to go “full bore.”
Matthews was also adamant the investment is “more than a Nashville play,” pointing to Dunn and Randall’s national healthcare practice and Winstead’s experience in the sector. Nashville being one of the nation’s healthcare hubs can “enable us to greatly expand our work in that area,” he added.
Winstead reported 297 lawyers firmwide in 2023, according to Texas Lawbook 50 research, only 15 of which were based outside of Texas. The firm last opened an office outside of Texas in 2020, when it established a presence in New York.