Jennifer Adams, the former chief counsel of litigation for Koch Companies Public Sector, has made the move back to private practice as a partner at Hogan Lovells in Houston.
Adams joins Hogan Lovells’ environmental and natural resource practice group. She has developed significant expertise focusing on complex environmental matters throughout the U.S., including in air, water and soil disputes and indemnification issues.
“I’m excited to be back in private practice and I’m excited to be back in the great state of Texas,” says Adams, a graduate of Baylor Law who started her career at Baker Botts in Dallas.
“Being closer to family, good Mexican food and warmer weather are all wins.”
After working for nine years at Baker Botts, where she was mentored by Tim Durst, Adams joined Koch Companies Public Sector in Wichita, Kansas as a senior attorney in 2011. She was promoted to chief counsel of litigation in 2017 and led a team of eight attorneys. Koch has more than 150 attorneys across the company.
At Koch Companies Public Sector, which essentially serves as an in-house law firm for Koch Companies, Adams tried a half dozen cases over the past eight years. She praised Koch for allowing her to maintain an active trial practice and partner with outside counsel rather than simply manage them.
“I don’t feel like I would be half the lawyer I am today without my time at Koch,” Adams says. “The biggest lesson [working in-house] is thinking economically about cases. It is figuring out very early in the case what a win is for the client. Is it fighting to the bitter end or is it the type of issue that a quick resolution is more favorable?”
Another key lesson Adams learned working on the client side at Koch is the importance of cost and partnering with clients to develop a mutually beneficial relationship. She says almost every matter she worked on at Koch involved alternative fee arrangements such as flat fees, capped fees or reduced rates with a potential upside for the partner law firms.
Adams’ decision to return to private practice ultimately was driven by a desire to try more cases. She had worked on matters with Hogan Lovells attorneys in D.C. and Singapore, and she overlapped with three Houston partners – Maria Wyckoff Boyce, Jennifer Smith and Cristina Rodriguez – during her time at Baker Botts.
“What I really want to do and where I really add the most value is in the courtroom,” she says.