Former Texas solicitor general Kyle Hawkins, who left the office Feb. 1, has landed at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher as a partner in Houston and Dallas, taking on appellate and commercial litigation as well as a U.S. Supreme Court practice down the road. He started his position today.
The move is a homecoming for Hawkins, who worked at Gibson Dunn in Washington, D.C., a decade ago, followed by a clerkship with Justice Samuel Alito Jr. and then practiced at Gibson Dunn in Dallas from 2014 to 2017.
“I love Gibson Dunn, and it’s the only law firm with whom I had serious discussions over the past few months,” Hawkins said in an interview with The Texas Lawbook. “It feels like home to me. I think the firm is the perfect combination of success and collegiality and hard work and excellence, all the attributes that I look for in places to work.”
Hawkins’ departure from the Texas solicitor general’s office came after a fraught period in December when Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a much-ridiculed petition with the U.S. Supreme Court claiming, on President Donald Trump’s behalf, that presidential election results in Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania were tainted by “unconstitutional irregularities.”
Hawkins’ name was conspicuously absent from the front page of the brief, and The New York Times later reported that Paxton himself may not have written the brief, though he was listed as counsel of record.
Asked about the brief and whether it was a factor in his departure, Hawkins said, “You wouldn’t be doing your job if you didn’t ask, and you’re quite right to ask. But I in turn would be, I think, acting inappropriately if I were to say anything about that.”
Hawkins added, “I’m always very sensitive about client confidences and private communications. And so I can’t speak to anything behind the scenes at the Attorney General’s Office.”
In a January statement announcing Hawkins’ departure, Paxton said, “Kyle Hawkins fought for Texans’ rights every step of the way – including arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the unconstitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. His dedication to safeguarding rights is very much appreciated.”
Hawkins said the main reason he sought a new job was that “I was excited about returning to private practice. In particular, the opportunity to go back to Gibson Dunn was something I was really excited about.”
In his previous tour at Gibson Dunn, Hawkins worked with the likes of Rob Walters, partner in charge in the Dallas office, Helgi Walker, Matthew McGill, Thomas Dupree, Ted Boutrous and Debra Yang.
Walters said of Hawkins, “Kyle’s among the finest appellate advocates of his generation in the nation. We are delighted Kyle is joining Gibson Dunn to team with Allyson Ho to offer the preeminent appellate counsel in Texas.”
Hawkins said he is thrilled to be working with Allyson Ho, co-chair of the firm’s nationwide appellate and constitutional Law practice group. “Allyson and I did not overlap during my previous time at Gibson. I was then working for the other Ho [James], and now I’ll be working with Allyson. And that’s a major selling point for me. I think Allyson is the best appellate lawyer in the state of Texas. The rest of us are just trying to be the second-best appellate lawyer in the state of Texas.”
Allyson Ho is likewise eager to work with Hawkins.
“Gibson Dunn has a strong tradition of attracting the most talented and accomplished appellate litigators in the market, because our clients consistently look to us to handle their most challenging, highest-stakes appeals, both in Texas and across the Nation,” Ho said in a statement. “Kyle fits that tradition like a glove, which is why we’re thrilled to welcome him back home from his distinguished record of service to our great state.”
Ho also said that with Hawkins on board, Gibson Dunn has “more (or at least the most) former U.S. Supreme Court clerks of any firm in Texas. I clerked for Justice O’Connor, Ashley Johnson clerked for Justice Thomas, and Kyle for Justice Alito.”
Gibson Dunn also has a long history of recruiting talent from the ranks of state SGs, from Utah to Mississippi, Oklahoma to Wisconsin, among others.
Hawkins has four U.S. Supreme Court arguments under his belt – two of them in person and two by telephone during the pandemic – but arguing there is not his only goal at Gibson Dunn.
“I think all throughout the state, there are real opportunities for client development,” Hawkins said. “You pick up the newspaper, it seems like every week there’s a major company relocating from the West Coast or the East Coast to Texas.
“As I build a practice here, I’m going to be looking to represent companies in a broad variety of areas. Whether it’s class action defense or whether it’s commercial litigation, whether it’s IP related work, I’d like to take a really broad approach because I think that’s what the client base here is looking for,” he said.
Also on his agenda is boosting Gibson Dunn’s litigation practice in Houston. “Dallas of course has a really robust stand-alone litigation practice. I think that Gibson Dunn’s Houston office should be able to match that,” Hawkins said. “It won’t happen overnight, but I’d love to see over the next few years, our Houston litigation team be as productive and as successful as what we’re seeing in Dallas, from the Dallas team.”