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The Texas Lawbook

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Claire Poole

Claire Poole is a senior writer at The Texas Lawbook, where she covers corporate transactions.

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Claire Poole

Claire Poole is a business writer based in Houston. She previously was a senior writer at The Deal, where she spent 16 years covering mergers and acquisitions, private equity and investing in the energy sector. Before The Deal, she worked as a reporter and staff writer at Forbes, was editor of El Financiero International and Mexico Business and was a contributing editor at LatinTrade. She also contributed articles to Money, Worth, BusinessWeek and Texas Monthly.

Claire’s email is claire.poole@texaslawbook.net.

Prominent PE Dealmaker Sarah McLean Leaves Shearman for Willkie

The attorney has more than 20 years of experience advising private equity funds and management teams on high profile deals across the energy sector. EnCap Flatrock Midstream is one of her regular clients.

January 2, 2024 Claire Poole

CDT Roundup: 17 Deals, 12 Firms, 99 Lawyers, $14.6B

Energy transition is proving itself more complicated than expected, and legacy energy more durable. Whether upstream or midstream, energy M&A in 2023 managed to endure the diverse pressures of war, politics, inflation and price volatility to emerge, as TPH&Co., the energy business of boutique bankers Perella Weinberg, describes it: “more important and dynamic than ever.” This week’s CDT Roundup looks at their interesting year-end reflections, along with 17 deals reported during the final week of the year, as well as the firms and lawyers who worked on them.

January 2, 2024 Claire Poole

CDT Roundup: 13 Deals, 13 Firms, 280 Lawyers, $16.4B

Oxy’s back. With its $12 billion acquisition of CrownRock last week, Occidental Petroleum not only joined other energy giants in the great consolidation of Texas oil production, but in the process seems to have shaken off the burden of its nearly disastrous $57 billion absorption of Anadarko Petroleum in 2018. Still, some observers think some of the same risks of overcommitment — not to mention regulatory concerns — are lurking in even this more modest deal. The CDT Roundup looks at those concerns, as well as the other deals reported from Texas by 280 lawyers.

December 19, 2023 Claire Poole

CDT Roundup: 26 Deals, 17 Firms, 244 Lawyers, $14.6B

It’s not that unusual, particularly in these days of energy consolidation, to have three billion-dollar deals. But this week saw three billion-dollar deals in three completely different business sectors: pharma, airlines and clean energy. The Roundup takes a look at the whys behind those deals, along with a huge menu of 26 deals, including 10 capital markets transactions (one of which was a very rare IPO and none of which involved Shohei Ohtani). And, of course, the names of the 244 lawyers who worked on them.

December 12, 2023 Claire Poole

CDT Roundup: 13 Deals, 9 Firms, 57 Lawyers, $6.7B

Last week’s announcement of a new joint venture between Sentinel Midstream and ExxonMobil connecting Louisiana pipelines marked more than another O&G consolidation. It was another deal to be tallied in what has been a remarkable year for Willkie Farr & Gallagher’s Houston partner, Archie Fallon. As we head into the final month of 2023, the CDT Roundup looks at his major deals on the year, along with those of the 57 mostly Texas lawyers who reported transactions for the week following the Thanksgiving holiday.

December 5, 2023 Claire Poole

Simpson Aids KKR on Buying Rest of Global Atlantic for $2.7B

The Simpson team was co-led by partner Christopher May in Houston. KKR already served as Global Atlantic’s asset manager for the last three years, offering access to its global investment and origination capabilities for the benefit of GA’s policyholders.

November 29, 2023 Claire Poole

CDT Roundup: 9 Deals, 9 Firms, 131 Lawyers, $4.8B

BlackRock is a dirty name, at least among some Texas legislators, for its vigorous investments in energy transition. But it is also the world’s largest asset manager with $9.42 trillion under management. This week’s CDT Roundup looks at BlackRock and the law firms whose Texas offices often count BlackRock as a client. That, along with the Texas lawyers and firms behind the nine deals reported during the holiday-shortened week.

November 28, 2023 Claire Poole

M&A/CapM Partner Leaves Sidley for Locke Lord

Houston deal lawyer Jon Daly has counseled a range of clients so far this year, including Intrepid Partners, Blue Ocean Acquisition Corp. and Sunoco on M&A and Western Midstream Partners and JP Morgan on capital markets.

November 27, 2023 Claire Poole

CDT Roundup: 22 Deals, 17 Firms, 184 Lawyers, $6.6B

Sometimes the biggest deal of the week tells us something beyond just its value. Last week, the last full week before Thanksgiving, the deal with the largest reported value involved healthcare. And according to the consulting firm Kaufman Hall, the $2.4 billion sale of three hospitals by Texas healthcare giant Tenet Healthcare is part of a resurgence of M&A in the medical space. This week’s CDT Roundup focuses on that uptick, as well as the usual roll call of Texas firms and lawyers who reported deals as the holiday season approaches.

November 21, 2023 Claire Poole

CDT Roundup: 15 Deals, 13 Firms, 179 Lawyers, $9.8B

A recent Mergermarket survey of top global private equity executives yielded few surprises concerning the once and future deal environment. The survey, conducted on behalf of Dechert, revealed that more than a quarter of respondents cited interest rates as the most important factor in determining deal development in the next 12 months. Among the few surprises, however, was the overwhelming and newly found attraction to take-private deals. The Roundup looks at the data, as well as the firms and lawyers behind 15 Texas-related transactions reported last week.

November 14, 2023 Claire Poole

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Features

  • P.S. — Pro Bono Work Honored at State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting - Advancing access to justice in rural Texas, advocating for domestic violence survivors and ensuring Spanish speakers aren’t left out are among the pro bono initiatives for which lawyers and a judge were honored during the State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting in San Antonio.   July 4, 2025Krista Torralva

GCs, Lawyers & Firms

  • Reed Smith Beefs Up Global Regulatory Enforcement Group, Hires V&E Partner  - Rebecca Fike, formerly senior counsel with the SEC, officially made the move to Reed Smith July 1. In an interview with The Texas Lawbook after one week on the job, she said she knew joining Reed Smith was the right move for her after meeting lawyers in the firm’s Dallas office during the interview process. 
  • Rey Anaya Valencia Begins Deanship at South Texas College of Law Houston
  • Willkie Adds Blake Winburne to its Houston Office
  • Hines CLO Joins Greenberg Traurig in Houston
  • Thomas Verity Vaults to Norton Rose Fulbright
  • Veteran Houston Partner Jumps from Latham to Simpson
  • Skadden Hires Two M&A Partners from White & Case
  • V&E Adds Three Partners: Two from Kirkland, One from Baker Botts
  • Houston Texans Associate GC Jumps to Munsch Hardt
  • Gray Reed Hires Longtime Houston Exec to Lead Operations and Growth
More GCs, Lawyers & Firms

Lawyers in the News

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Barry Barnett
Wes Bearden
Emily Westridge Black
Michael Burke
Alicia Campbell
John Campbell
Madeleine Carpenter
Alexander Clark
Dawn Pittman Collins
Richard Finneran
Elizabeth Freeman
David Gail
Elizabeth Gibson
David Jones
Frank Lopez
Abbe Lowell
Neal Manne
Billy Marsh
Tom Melsheimer
Tasha Moser
Justin Nelson
Reed O'Connor
Kate Pennartz
John “J.” Pieratt
Danielle Reyes
Christopher Richardson
Randy Sorrels
Harry Susman
Larry Vincent
Victor Vital
Brent Walker
Matt Weybrecht
Melody Wilkinson
Alex Wolens

Firms in the News

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A&O Shearman
Bryan Cave
Cozen O'Connor
Haynes Boone
Holland & Knight
Jackson Walker
King & Spalding
Kirkland & Ellis
Law Office of Liz Freeman
Paul Hastings
Porter Hedges
Sorrels Law
Susman Godfrey
Toyota
Troutman Pepper Locke
Willkie
Vinson & Elkins
Weil
Winston & Strawn

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