Akin Gump has added two partners in Dallas-Fort Worth as Wesley P. Williams and Jessica Hammons join the firm’s ranks.
The pair focus on energy transactions, and both bring practices that focus on private and public energy companies, in addition to private equity funds and other capital providers.
Williams, who was most recently the firmwide head of Thompson & Knight’s corporate and securities practice for seven years and was with the firm for more than two decades, will co-head Akin Gump’s energy team. His practice has traditionally focused on oil and gas clients in M&A transactions, joint ventures, equity and debt financings, and structuring and forming private equity investment funds, among other areas of expertise.
Hammons, who also joins the firm from TK, advises on corporate and securities transactions, especially those in the midstream and upstream energy sectors. She also served as TK’s firmwide hiring partner.
Williams and Hammons pointed to Akin Gump’s bigger platform when they spoke to The Texas Lawbook today, not only as it pertained to servicing existing clients, but chasing additional work and deals. Williams called out the firm’s deep bench on the private equity side and, in particular, its funds practice.
John Goodgame, co-head of Akin Gump’s corporate practice, noted the pair’s “deep experience and long relationships” tied to oilfield services, E&P and midstream industries.
“Having worked opposite Wes on significant M&A transactions in recent years, and with the strong reputations that he and Jessica both enjoy, I know their practices and client relationships will align perfectly with our existing strengths,” said Goodgame.
Beyond resonating with the firm’s “deep Texas roots,” Williams and Hammons found that Akin Gump had a similar outlook when it came to the energy sector.
“We think that 2021 is going to be a really great year for energy M&A across all facets, whether it’s oilfield services, E&P, midstream. That was one of the great things about Akin that made it such a perfect fit and a natural move. We sat across from Akin in a lot of transactions and had a lot of respect for them, and they had a similar view and outlook for this space,” said Williams.
“There were a lot of synergies in our practice, and we are really excited about what is next in the rest of 2021 and 2022,” added Hammons. “Now that people are coming out of Covid and we have come to the other side of the administration change, I think we’re going to see a lot more M&A activity.”
Beyond these two new hires, Akin Gump has been beefing up its transactions practice in Texas. Last year, the firm added Ryan Cox, Eric Williams and Chad Nichols to the team.