Latham & Watkins made its Austin arrival official last week, tapping veteran dealmakers Samer Zabaneh and Jenifer Smith from DLA Piper and Scott Craig from Wilson Sonsini.
Zabaneh will serve as managing partner of Latham’s second Texas outpost. The firm’s Houston office – whose 2010 opening launched a decade-long transformation of the Texas legal market – reported $140.8 million in revenues in 2020, according to the Texas Lawbook 50.
Charles Ruck, global chair of Latham’s corporate department, said trio of emerging companies specialists is a perfect fit for three reasons: 1) clients and practices; 2) deep ties to the dynamic Austin region; and 3) the people.
“We talked with important clients about where they want us and what they need from us and they identified these three lawyers as people they trust,” Ruck said. “We feel incredibly lucky we found the group that we did.”
Latham is the latest prominent out-of-state firm to expand into Austin this year, joining Kirkland & Ellis, Gunderson Dettmer, O’Melveny & Myers, Quinn Emanuel and Balch & Bingham. The Los Angeles-based firm, in its official announcement, said it anticipates that current partners with strong ties to Texas will either permanently relocate to Austin or spend significant time in the state capital.
“Austin’s legal scene has transformed substantially,” said Zabaneh, a University of Texas School of Law graduate who has practiced in Austin for the past two decades. “It used to be if you were a serious-minded corporate lawyer you would go to Houston or Dallas. That’s not the case anymore. This is a compelling opportunity to do sophisticated transactions in one of the best cities in the country.”
Craig, who has also practiced in Austin since receiving his law degree from UT, agrees.
“Austin has had these times over the past 20 years where you say ‘This is it, Austin is going to boom.’ It is for real now.
“Check writers on both coasts are seeing some value in Austin and in Texas generally on the emerging growth side,” Craig said. “We haven’t seen more outside investment in Texas than what we’ve seen over the past five years.”
Adds Smith, another UT Law grad who was co-chair of the emerging growth and venture capital practice at DLA Piper: “As the Austin market matures, the emerging companies in this market are scaling to more successful levels than in the past.”
Zabaneh, Craig and Smith have each been involved in noteworthy deals over the past year.
Smith advised Austin-based Dosh, a cash-back offers platform, in its $275 million sale to Cardlytics in March. She also assisted Torchy’s Tacos in a new round of fundraising and the addition of four investor groups – D1 Capital Partners, T. Rowe Price, Lone Pine Capital and XN – that are expected to accelerate the homegrown taco chain’s growth to 10 new states over the next four years.
Craig helped Austin advanced technologies construction company ICON close a $207 million series B round of financing two weeks ago led by Norwest Venture Partners to support demand for 3D-printed construction. In March, he guided Austin-based home lab testing kit startup Everlywell in acquiring PWNHealth and Home Access Health Corporation to establish a new parent company called Everly Health.
Zabaneh aided Austin drivers ed and defensive driving platform Aceable in a $50 million growth investment from HGGC and represented Austin-based BigCommerce in its initial public offering in 2020. He has also handled multiple transactions for private equity firm Tritium Partners.
Latham advises a number of companies that are either headquartered in Austin or have significant operations there. They also represent private equity and venture capital clients that are active nationally and have an increasing focus on the Austin market.