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Claire Poole

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

Email Claire

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.

Kinder Morgan Buys STX Midstream from NextEra for $1.8B

Locke Lord's Kevin Peter counseled KMI and Hogan Lovells' Greg Hill represented NextEra on the sale of the pipeline system, with KMI viewed as the likely buyer.

November 7, 2023 Claire Poole

CDT Roundup: 15 Deals, 14 Firms, 193 Lawyers, $20.6B

For the first time in a while, energy didn't dominate the week for value. Still, energy deals dominated the deal count among the 12 M&A transactions reported. This comes as the Haynes Boone financing survey shows increasing interest in financing new upstream E&P. Claire Poole's CDT Roundup has more, along with the names and firms of the 186 lawyers who worked on last week's transactions.

November 7, 2023 Claire Poole

Two Billion-Dollar-Plus Energy Deals Announced with V&E Involved

Riverstone-backed Hammerhead Energy agreed to be sold to Crescent Point Energy for $1.86 billion and Enbridge purchased landfill gas-to-renewable natural gas facilities in the U.S. from Morrow Renewables for $1.2 billion.

November 6, 2023 Claire Poole

Six Flags Merges with Cedar Fair in $8B Deal

Weil in New York counseled Cedar Fair while Kirkland did so for Six Flags, including an M&A partner in Austin and a debt partner in Houston.

November 2, 2023 Claire Poole

CDT Roundup: 18 Deals, 18 Firms, 152 Lawyers, $68.4B

What a difference a quarter makes. Even as deal numbers for the third quarter continue to numb, some really big deals are beginning to unfold in the fourth — particularly in the energy sector — with two $60 billion whoppers in the past three weeks. But a recent analysis by Pitchbook suggests that they are only the beginning. With an estimated global total of $1.4 trillion in dry powder available, dealmakers who have been eyeing market variables may be ready to pounce. This week's CDT Roundup looks the possibility of a coming breakout, along with the usual roster of lawyers and firms who reported $68 billion over 18 different deals.

October 31, 2023 Claire Poole

CDT Roundup: 16 Deals, 13 Firms, 165 Lawyers, $6.8B

This week's transactions include two take-private deals. According to studies by Bloomberg and White & Case, turmoil across the equity capital markets is making such deals attractive, with more companies being taken private so far this year than traditional public offerings. In the 18 months from January 2022 through June 2023, there were 47 P2P transactions in the U.S. versus 39 IPOs. And the P2P pace for 2023 may be even quicker. Claire Poole has the specifics, along with the usual roundup of deals and dealmakers for the week.

October 24, 2023 Claire Poole

Texas Attorneys for Chevron Co-Lead on $60B Acquisition of Hess

A pair of in-house attorneys for Chevron in Texas is co-leading on the company’s purchase of New York-based Hess Corp. for $60 billion, including debt. Paul Weiss is serving as outside counsel to Chevron, while Wachtell Lipton advised Hess.

October 23, 2023 Claire Poole

CDT Roundup: 14 Deals, 13 Firms, 125 Lawyers, $67.8B

The $59.5 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources by ExxonMobil last week produced the largest week by value ever recorded by the Corporate Deal Tracker Roundup. The deal caused upward movement in the stocks of other significant stakeholders in the Permian Basin, perhaps with other consolidation targets in mind. The Roundup wondered which Permian players might be next, and we have that list, along with the usual tally of lawyers and firms that helped produce last week's record showing.

October 17, 2023 Claire Poole

Searchlight, BCI Take Consolidated Private in $3.1B Deal

Illinois-based Consolidated Communications was advised by Latham & Watkins on the deal. Searchlight Capital Partners already held 34 percent of Consolidated's common stock and all of its Series A perpetual preferred. Claire Poole has details.

October 16, 2023 Claire Poole

ExxonMobil Finally Captures Pioneer for $64.5B

In a deal three times larger than any previous Texas M&A transaction this year, ExxonMobil is purchasing Pioneer Natural Resources in an all-stock acquisition. Pioneer GC Mark Kleinman turned to Gibson Dunn partners Jeff Chapman and Tull Florey and Goldman Sachs’ Suhail Sikhtian as his lead outside legal and financial advisors. ExxonMobil turned to Davis Polk partner Louis Goldberg and Citi as its advisors. Texas Lawbook deal writer Claire Poole has the details.

October 11, 2023 Claire Poole

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Features

  • Stakeholder GC Jonathan Ellis ‘Turns Adversity into Opportunity’ - Jonathan Ellis traces his desire to be a lawyer to the third grade when his mother told him about a former landlord who refused to refund her a $100 deposit under false pretenses. "This was a time in her life when $100 was life-changing money," he said. But a lawyer who employed his mom as a bookkeeper wrote a letter to the landlord who quickly refunded the money. That's when he realized lawyers have influence. Three decades later, Ellis is the general counsel of San Antonio-headquartered Stakeholder Midstream, which focuses on in-field natural gas and oil gathering as well as transportation and storage.

    “Jonathan has faced numerous high-pressure challenges, which has frequently required him to manage multiple projects at once using outside counsel from different law firms,” said Clifford Chance partner Todd Lowther.

    The Association of Corporate Counsel’s San Antonio Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are awarding the 2025 San Antonio Corporate Counsel Award for General Counsel of the Year for a Solo Legal Department to Ellis.
    October 21, 2025Mark Curriden
  • Lee Cusenbary’s ‘Career Shows How Much One Person Can Do to Make a Difference in a Community’ - Lee Cusenbary is a legend in the Texas business and legal communities. His name and reputation will forever be connected to elevating ethics — so much so that the Association of Corporate Counsel San Antonio Chapter named its highest honor after him. During 17 years as the GC at Mission Pharmacal, Cusenbary successfully led the San Antonio company through several complex multidistrict litigation cases, highly-technical patent infringement disputes, and guided it through numerous acquisitions and divestitures.

    "Lee has left a lasting mark on the in-house counsel community, the San Antonio legal profession and the broader public," said Dykema member Jeffrey Gifford. "Lee made his career about being more than an excellent corporate counsel. He also made it about building a culture of ethics and of giving back.”

    ACC San Antonio and The Texas Lawbook are awarding Cusenbary the 2025 San Antonio Corporate Counsel Award for Lifetime Achievement.
    October 20, 2025Mark Curriden

GCs, Lawyers & Firms

  • Erin Hopkins: Another Veteran Paul Hastings Hire - Erin Hopkins, a veteran energy transactions partner at Baker Botts, is moving to the Houston office of Paul Hastings, his new law firm announced Tuesday. Hopkins brings with him 15 years of experience in energy and renewables transactions.
  • Midwest Law Firm with Texas Offices Merges with Northeast Firm
  • White & Case Adds Energy M&A Dealmaker in Houston
  • Norton Rose Hires Veteran Finance Partner from Winston & Strawn
  • Invitation Homes Selects Former SEC Associate Director as VP of Litigation and Investigations
  • Houston Trial Firm Boosts Associate Salaries
  • SALSA Names New Executive Director
  • New GE Vernova GC of Wind Energy Dionne Hamilton: ‘We’re Working to Make the World a Better Place’
  • Ross & Smith Announces Partnership with Full-Service Maryland Firm
  • Martin Sosland, Candice Carson Join Vartabedian Hester
More GCs, Lawyers & Firms

Lawyers in the News

Hover right to see full list

Chip Babcock
Chris Bankler
Jamie B. Beaber
David J. Beck
Bill Benitez
Jessica Berkowitz
Brent Bernell
Tyler Bexley
Shawn Blackburn
Michael Blankenship
Jeffrey Brill
Anita Brown
Ian Brown
Stuart Campbell
Jack Chadderdon
Paul Clement
Erin Nealy Cox
Scott Craig
Kevin Crews
Shamus Crosby
Hannah M. Crowe
Geoffrey Culbertson
Sean Cunningham
John Daywalt
Rajiv Dharnidharka
James Ducayet
Brian K. Erickson
Scott Everett
Weiru Fang
Elizabeth Freeman
Tad Freese
Melanie Fry
Geoff Gannaway
Paul Genender
John J. Gilluly III
Rodney Gilstrap
Andrew Gorham
John Greer
Joseph Grinstein
Matthew Haddad
Colleen Haile
Breen Haire
Shahmeer Halepota
Dionne Hamilton
Troy Harder
Rusty Hardin
Michael Hawes
Nathan Hecht
Stephen Hessler
Hillary Holmes
Marc Jaffe
Lauren Jenkins
David Jones
Atma Kabad
Susan Kennedy
David Kinder
Justin King
Allan Kirk
Melanie Koltermann
Doug Kubehl
Joe Laurel
Sang Lee
Steven Lockhart
Arthur Lotz
Barbara Lynn
Mike Lynn
Nora McGuffey
Stephanie McPhail
Mark Melton
Jeri Leigh Miller
Kimberly A. Moore
Mark Moore
Shelby Morgan
Alia Moses
Davis Mosmeyer III
Darren Nicholson
Eamon Nolan
Ivy Nowinski
Holland O’Neil
George Padis
Ian Peck
Jonathan Platt
Chase Proctor
Doug Rayburn
Joel Reese
Kevin Richardson
Andrew Rodheim
Seth Rubinson
Mazin Sbaiti
Ana Sanchez
Vincenzo Santini
Jeffrey Scharfstein
Robert Schroeder III
Scott Seidel
Steven Sexton
Ahmed Sidik
Robert Slovak
Emily Smith
Melissa R. Smith
Jonathon Soler
Robert Soza
Lande Spottswood
Craig Stanfield
Justin Stolte
Josh Teahen
Kelly Tidwell
Linda Tieh
Rafael B. de Toledo
Monica Uddin
Rhett Van Syoc
Rahul Vashi
Gabe Vazquez
Patrick Venter
Sarah Walden
Kandace Walter
Kyle Watson
Mikell Alan West
Noël Wise
Meng Xi

Firms in the News

Hover right to show full list

AZA
Baker Botts
The Bandas Law Firm
Beck Redden
Boies Schiller Flexner
Bracewell
Bradley Arant
Burns Charest
Clement & Murphy
Condon & Forsyth
DLA Piper
Dykema
Foley & Lardner
Gibson Dunn
Gillam & Smith
Haynes Boone
Holland & Knight
Jackson Walker
King & Spalding
Kirkland & Ellis
Latham & Watkins
Lynn Pinker
Mayer Brown
MoloLamken
Pamela Welch PLLC
Patton Tidwell Culbertson
Paul Hastings
Porter Hedges
The Probus Law Firm
Reese Marketos
Rusty Hardin & Associates
Sbaiti & Company
Sidley Austin
Simpson Thacher
Skadden
Squire Patton Boggs
Sullivan & Cromwell
Susman Godfrey
Troutman Pepper Locke
Vinson & Elkins
Weil
Willkie
Winston & Strawn

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