Kirkland Hires Top-Notch Trial Lawyer from Gibson Dunn
Today was Andrew LeGrand’s first day with Kirkland & Ellis after 14 years at Gibson Dunn. He said he has “no doubt in my mind that I made the right decision.”
Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
Today was Andrew LeGrand’s first day with Kirkland & Ellis after 14 years at Gibson Dunn. He said he has “no doubt in my mind that I made the right decision.”
Jude Leblanc, a former assistant general counsel for Fluor who was most recently at McGuireWoods, brings more than 25 years of experience advising clients on complex commercial transactions across the energy and infrastructure sectors.
Leblanc shared his thoughts on the move and more with The Texas Lawbook.
Joel Goldberg, an energy partner, has joined King & Spalding’s Houston office from Porter Hedges, where he led the firm's Property and Finance Practice Group. He will focus his practice on the development, financing and acquisition of conventional and renewable energy and infrastructure projects.
Nick Foran, a former trial lawyer with the U.S. Department of Justice and naval aviator, focused on operations and regulatory compliance at Southwest.
Lindsay Buchanan Fisher, who was a senior associate at Baker Botts, joins the litigation boutique as a partner.
Childress has spent the last seven years in the litigation finance world. But the bulk of her career was forged at Yetter Coleman.
David Higer, an intellectual property litigator, has joined Cole Schotz from Winstead as a member in the firm's Litigation and Intellectual Property departments.
Kevin Wakefield, a real estate finance lawyer, has joined Jones Day from Hunton Andrews Kurth as of counsel in the firm's Dallas office. He will focus his practice on commercial real estate finance and transactions, representing institutional lenders in commercial mortgage and mezzanine loan originations, while also advising clients on commercial real estate acquisitions, dispositions, development and leasing.

Willkie Farr & Gallagher opened its Dallas office just two years ago, initially concentrating on transactional work. Now, the firm is advancing to the next phase by expanding its global litigation capabilities in Texas by hiring Grant Schmidt and Andrew Bean from Hilgers.
Carey Troell, a public finance shareholder, has rejoined Greenberg Traurig in Houston after practicing there from 2005-2008. He will focus his practice on public finance transactions, serving as bond counsel to state and local governmental entities throughout Texas, structuring financing transactions for school districts, cities, water districts and other public and quasi-public institutions. He also represents nonprofits, financial institutions and underwriters in public finance matters.
Restructuring partners Dan Prieto and Amanda Rush have joined Kirkland & Ellis from Jones Day. They will become the first members of the firm's Restructuring Group based in Dallas, where they will focus on mass tort restructurings, Chapter 11 reorganizations, out-of-court restructurings and distressed M&A transactions.

Public servant. Legal giant. Texas titan. People who knew Tom Luce reached for big words to describe him, but in interview after interview, one word rose above the rest: kind.
As his colleagues, peers and friends talked to The Texas Lawbook about his hand in reshaping Texas public education and mental health, building a successful law firm and founding a data‑driven think tank, they kept circling back to the same picture.
He was the man who listened more than he spoke, made time for everyone and never made anyone feel small.
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