© 2016 The Texas Lawbook.
By Mark Curriden
WASHINTON, DC (Dec. 16) – The Texas legal and business markets were a key factor in the decision by Atlanta-based Sutherland Asbill & Brennan and London-based Eversheds joining forces to create a new global law firm.
Partners at the firms voted Friday to create a new law firm called Eversheds Sutherland.
Sutherland Managing Partner Mark Wasserman told The Texas Lawbook in an interview in Washington, D.C. Friday that the two law firms have several mutual clients that are either headquartered in Texas or have major operations in the state.
“For Eversheds, our Texas offices in Houston and Austin were a significant factor in this combination,” Wasserman said. “Growth in Texas is important for both law firms.”
Sutherland has 22 lawyers in Houston and nine in Austin. Two Houston partners, Ben Clark and Ram Sunkara, are members of Sutherland’s nine-member executive committee.
Sutherland represented Houston-based Transocean in the BP oil spill litigation.
Sutherland was founded in 1924 by William Sutherland and Elbert Tuttle, who was later appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta and is widely considered one of the greatest federal judges to ever serve in the South. Judge Tuttle, along with fellow judges Frank Johnson and Minor Wisdom, are credited with desegregating southern states in the months and years after Brown v. Board of Education was handed down the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954.
Another of the law firm’s partners, Randolph Thrower, was a celebrated tax lawyer and served as the commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service from 1969 to 1971. Thrower was fired in 1971 by then-White House Domestic Adviser John Ehrlichman because Thrower refused to allow President Nixon to use the IRS punish political opponents.
Both firms will begin using the Eversheds Sutherland identity on February 1, 2017. This entity will be led by joint CEOs as part of a six-strong global management team, overseen by a global Board of 10 with equal representation from both firms.
Eversheds Sutherland will boast 2,300 lawyers with a global footprint spanning 61 offices in 29 countries. The combination will put Eversheds Sutherland in the UK’s top 10 and in the top 40 in U.S. and global listings.
“Over the past months, we have had the opportunity to get to know our colleagues at Eversheds well,” Wasserman said. “Both firms are focused on providing innovative, effective and efficient service in a changing global environment while maintaining cultures that value diversity, involvement in our communities and the importance of caring for our people.”
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