© 2015 The Texas Lawbook.
By Brooks Igo
(July 16) – Samuel Stricklin and Tricia DeLeon are hoping the “hustle and bustle” during the first week at their new firm together is a harbinger of what is to come.
The former Bracewell & Giuliani partners recently joined Gruber Hurst Elrod Johansen Hail Shank, the firm announced on Tuesday. The Dallas-based litigation boutique celebrated two trial victories in the past week to welcome their new cohorts.
“I had a desire to get in the courtroom more, and these guys have tried more cases than anyone,” said DeLeon, who focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation in financial, banking and securities matters. “They have a good thing going.”
Stricklin, who has been the lead trial attorney in a variety of bankruptcy matters over the past 25 years, said it was important for him to go to a firm with “outstanding” trial lawyers.
“In bankruptcy, it is nice to have the other side know you can take a case to trial,” he said.
The two attorneys expand Gruber Hurst’s capabilities in representing bankruptcy plan trustees and others in major bankruptcy litigation. In November, Stricklin and DeLeon resolved a debtor case in Lubbock, where they represented West Texas Guar, a Brownfield-based guar company.
The case touched on both the agriculture and oil and gas industries. Guar is a legume that is used as a food base, but also in the oil and gas industry.
Stricklin and DeLeon helped lead West Texas Gaur to a sale to Cor Capital Group LLC, a New York-based investment firm. The company was renamed Guar Resources LLC.
Bankruptcy lawyers are watching developments in the oil and gas industry closely, particularly service providers and exploration and production companies, Stricklin says. He noted that the borrowing rebases set for September or October could trigger new bankruptcies for the first quarter of 2016.
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