© 2018 The Texas Lawbook.
By Brooks Igo
(May 3) – Dallas’ oldest minority-owned law firm is adding new partners and expanding its national reach with the launch of a New York City office.
White & Wiggins announced this week that three Dallas attorneys – Kennedy Barnes, Ward White IV and Nnamdi Anozie – have joined the 11-lawyer firm as partners. New York attorney and international anti-corruption expert Lance Croffoot-Suede has been tapped to lead the firm’s first office outside of Texas.
Barnes, a mentee of firm founder Ron White’s, returns as a name partner to the law firm where he practiced for the first seven years of his career. The firm will now operate as White Wiggins & Barnes.
“The opportunity to join a very prestigious African American-owned firm and go back to the place I started was something I just couldn’t pass up,” said Barnes, who was most recently at Lackey Hershman.
“I’m about the same age now that Ron was when I first started,” he added. “It felt like a natural progression to go back and contribute to the wonderful legacy they have created.”
The strategic hires of Barnes, White IV and Anozie, who was an associate at litigation powerhouse Lynn Pinker Cox & Hurst and a former White House Presidential Management Fellow, further strengthen the firm’s litigation capabilities and add a robust entertainment law practice and burgeoning international presence, with a particular focus on economic development in emerging markets.
“White & Wiggins has earned its reputation as a premiere minority-owned law firm,” White, a Lion of the Texas Bar, said in a statement. “With these new attorneys, and the New York expansion, we have deepened our capacity to serve our clients’ needs.”
A former executive at Warner Bros., White IV will lead the firm’s entertainment practice, where he will focus on connecting content creators to capital around the globe.
Barnes and Anozie will work together to build the firm’s international presence, specifically in Africa. Barnes lived and worked in Africa for two years, while Anozie is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Nigeria.
While at Thompson & Knight, Barnes was a part of a team that trained the legal staff at PetroSA, South Africa’s state-owned oil and gas company, shortly after apartheid ended.
“I found that I have a real joy in working in Africa and there are real opportunities, particularly for African American attorneys, that are just waiting for us,” Barnes said.
© 2018 The Texas Lawbook. Content of The Texas Lawbook is controlled and protected by specific licensing agreements with our subscribers and under federal copyright laws. Any distribution of this content without the consent of The Texas Lawbook is prohibited.
If you see any inaccuracy in any article in The Texas Lawbook, please contact us. Our goal is content that is 100% true and accurate. Thank you.