© 2013 The Texas Lawbook.
By Natalie Posgate
Staff Writer for The Texas Lawbook
Patton Boggs announced Wednesday that it has added two attorneys – partner Gina Betts and associate Brad Hogan – who will expand the Dallas office’s corporate finance team.
The addition of Betts and Hogan is the beginning of a series of lateral hires that are expected to come to Patton Boggs in Dallas in the next year, firm officials told The Texas Lawbook.
“Gina and Brad are the tip of the iceberg,” said Dallas managing partner Michael Forshey. “We expect to add over six more lawyers by the end of the year, and want to continue that growth in a natural way over the next year.”
Betts joins the firm from Locke Lord, where she worked for 25 years and chaired the private equity practice group in Dallas. She said her clients have responded positively to her lateral move.
“One hundred percent of my clients signed letters [of approval] to come here,” said Betts, who represents issuers and purchasers of debt and equity securities in private and public transactions, general SBIC and SEC compliance, and a variety of other matters.
She added that act alone confirmed that she made the right decision, along with the wider client base and the fact that she can now offer her clients more services that aren’t necessarily her specialty. For example, Patton Boggs has a large presence in the nation’s capital with its Washington, D.C. office, which has private equity attorneys who specialize in SBA funds.
Hogan joins Patton Boggs from Baker & McKenzie. His practice focuses on securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, dispositions, venture capital financings and other complex business transactions. He has represented both publicly and privately owned businesses in a wide range of corporate transactions, as well as issuers in public offerings and private placements of debt and equity.
Hogan and Betts aren’t new to working with each other; before Baker & McKenzie, Hogan was an associate at Locke Lord.
In addition to the billable hour work, Betts said Patton Boggs was a great fit because she immediately felt right at home with the firm’s culture, which includes a heavy emphasis on pro bono and charitable efforts.
Currently Betts is chairing the Art Ball, a charitable gala that will be at the Dallas Museum of Art next year in May that raises money for the museum. She also holds the record for raising the most money for the Cattle Baron’s Ball ($4.1 million), which benefits the American Cancer Society.
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