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Barnes & Thornburg has expanded its Dallas office by hiring Jeff Connor as counsel, tapping his expertise in investment management, private equity and compliance. Indiana’s largest law firm with 23 offices nationwide, Barnes & Thornburg entered the Texas market in 2015.
Harvest Midstream is making a $1 billion bet on the Rockies, agreeing to acquire natural gas gathering and processing assets from Ohio-based MPLX. The deal expands Houston-based Harvest’s footprint in Wyoming, Utah and Colorado with 1,500 miles of pipelines and 845 million cubic feet per day of processing capacity, underscoring the private midstream company’s push for scale in natural gas. A Texas team from Kirkland & Ellis advised Harvest on the transaction.
In what has proven to be an increasingly uneven deal environment week-over-week this year, there’s been a steady stream of billion-dollar transactions to kick off the third quarter. Good news, right? Sure, but the devil is in the details. Even with lingering uncertainties around interest rates and geopolitical tensions (both kinetic and trade), Texas lawyers were part of nine major deals exceeding $1 billion since the beginning of July. The transactions span multiple sectors, from energy infrastructure to data centers, highlighting the state's continued appeal as a hub for transformative corporate combos and tie-ups. The Lawbook recently asked Texas dealmakers with extensive experience handling billion-dollar transactions to share their perspectives on the current M&A environment, including their assessment of the first half of the year, the third quarter so far and their outlook moving forward.
Thompson Coburn has hired Steven Smith as a partner in its Dallas real estate practice, the firm announced in a news release.
Weil has bolstered its Texas presence by bringing back Jeff Homrig to the firm, this time as its Co-Head of its new IP, Technology & Science Litigation practice.
Sorrels Law has hired veteran trial lawyer Gregory D. Brown in its Houston office, the firm announced.
Fisher Phillips has hired veteran litigator Cheryl Blount as a partner in Houston, the labor and employment law firm announced.
Bradley recently announced that it has hired as a veteran partner for the firm’s Dallas office in its corporate & securities practice.
Earlier this month, Peter Nelson began his three-year term as Managing Partner of Minneapolis-based Dorsey & Whitney. With 17 years at the firm, Nelson played a key role in expanding Dorsey’s presence, helping to integrate new market locations such as Dallas, which launched in early 2017 with attorneys — including Larry Makel, Gina Betts and Jamie Whatley — from what was then the Dallas office of Schiff Hardin. The Texas Lawbook recently talked to Nelson about Texas being a critical market for the firm’s current and future growth.
Willkie Farr & Gallagher continues to expand the Dallas office it opened a year ago, this time by hiring three veteran private equity dealmakers as partners, the firm announced Tuesday. The move by the trio of transactional lawyers — Jesse Betts, Jessica Hammons and Nathan Meredith — bolsters Willkie’s corporate & financial services vertical and its PE, M&A and capital markets capabilities.
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