Bryan Stevenson’s career journey took an exciting turn in 2004, which ultimately led him to his current role as chief legal officer at Arcosa, a Dallas infrastructure-focused products and solutions company — and to play a pivotal role in the company’s largest deal in its history.
In 2004, Stevenson had been thriving as a litigator at Beirne, Maynard & Parsons in Dallas, following a short stint in Texarkana after graduating from Dallas Baptist University in 1995 and receiving his law degree from Baylor University in 1999.
While at the Houston-based litigation boutique, he diligently defended companies in negligence, product liability and professional liability cases, and thoroughly enjoyed his work and had no intentions of leaving the firm.
However, when Blockbuster came calling in 2004, at the peak of its reign over video rentals, the Duncanville native ultimately felt it was too good an opportunity to pass up and decided to officially join the company as one of its in-house counsel.
“I was happy in private practice defending companies [and] litigating cases when I was recruited by Blockbuster to go in-house and help manage their litigation docket,” Stevenson said.
Stevenson spent the better half of seven years learning from Blockbuster’s then-large in-house legal department, whose lawyers “patiently” taught him about areas of law beyond traditional litigation.
“[They showed me] the inside operations of a large public company, for which I am forever grateful,” Stevenson said.
Following his stint at Blockbuster, which ended due to the company’s eventual bankruptcy in 2011, Stevenson decided to work in-house once again, taking his first general counsel position with U.S. Auto Parts Network, now known as Carparts.com.
However, the new role came with a few personal and professional twists that Stevenson hadn’t dealt with before.
For starters, the native Texan would have to deal with moving himself and his wife, Lacey, to Los Angeles.
This was a tough ask for Stevenson, who had grown up and formed many cherished memories and relationships in the Dallas suburb of Duncanville.
On top of having to move to a different state and leave behind his family, friends and the neighborhood that he had always known, he’d also have to work as what he describes as a “lone ranger” GC who had to handle all the legal responsibilities for the small public company for the first time in his career. But making that move would eventually lead Stevenson to a role at Dallas-based Arcosa, where he would help orchestrate a historic deal billion-dollar deal — one that would also result in his selection as one of two finalists for the 2024 DFW M&A Deal of the Year Award.
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbookcongratulate Stevenson and Arcosa’s outside counsel, Kirkland & Ellis. An event to honor all of the 2024 DFW Corporate Counsel Awards finalists will be held on Jan. 30 at the George W. Bush Institute.
New Family? There’s No Place Like Texas
Living in California, Stevenson made the best of the opportunity he was given at Carparts.com and spent four years working at the company, saying it was an excellent chance to hone his skills. However, a significant milestone for him and his wife soon arrived, and they decided it was time to return to Texas in 2015.
“While in Los Angeles, my wife, Lacey, and I were blessed with our first child, and as native Texans that led us back home to Dallas,” said Stevenson, who joined Trinity Industries, a provider of railcar products and services. He served as vice president, associate general counsel and secretary for nearly four years.
While in the role, he had the opportunity to lead a career-changing spin-off transaction of Trinity’s non-railcar manufacturing businesses, which would ultimately become Arcosa in November 2018.
It was a spin-off deal that Mark Elmore, the associate GC at Arcosa who was then serving alongside Stevenson in the same role at Trinity, describes as a “truly a once-in-a-lifetime type of transaction, and Bryan’s leadership was central to its success.”
As a result of this transaction, he was appointed as Arcosa’s first chief legal officer later that same month, where he has served ever since.
Stevenson has excelled since taking over the position and has had the opportunity to achieve a handful of interesting activities that individuals who typically hold his position don’t necessarily get to do.
One such moment came in November when he rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange for Arcosa, marking its debut as a publicly traded company.
Stevenson also assisted Arcosa in hosting President Joe Biden at the opening of its new wind tower plant in Belen, New Mexico, in August 2023.
Stevenson considers these two events equally significant on his list of “best days at the firm.”
Furthermore, many people who have worked closely with Bryan at Arcosa believe that one of his most important accomplishments at the company is the team he has built around himself and his ability to lead them effectively in their daily responsibilities.
“Arcosa has seen some huge wins in a variety of legal settings, but really, I think Bryan’s biggest professional achievement is the all-star team he has helped build,” Ron Chapman of Ogletree said, noting that the team exuberates a “raging intelligence.”
Kirkland & Ellis partner Kevin Crews echoed this same sentiment, saying, “Bryan has built and maintained a deep and talented in-house legal team since Arcosa spun out of Trinity Industries.”
Crews also noted that the Arcosa legal team is “able to navigate multiple sophisticated matters concurrently” under Bryan’s leadership.
Gibson Dunn’s Rob Little, who has worked with Stevenson since his days at Blockbuster and since he joined Arcosa, said, “The legal team’s business-oriented approach and its close integration with the business team are noteworthy, and the legal team’s keen focus on business objectives helps deliver value for the company.”
Little also noted that he thinks of Bryan as an “up-by-the-bootstraps guy” and has seen his team take a similar approach to him.
“He has worked tremendously hard and has always stayed focused on doing his very best. I have watched him seize opportunities and propel himself up the ranks of companies over the last 20 years. He simply delivers, time and again, and he does it with a smile and good humor,” Little said.
Not only do those outside Arcosa say that Stevenson and his leadership abilities are among his most significant qualities, but those on his team echo that same sentiment.
Elmore, who’s worked with Stevenson at Arcosa since 2018, has had a “front-row seat” to Stevenson’s career, having worked alongside him at Trinity. “I have admired Bryan’s ability to lead our team in a fast-paced growth company. We all recognize that Bryan has been a constant source of stability and leadership during Arcosa’s growth,” Elmore said.
However, since taking the role, it hasn’t been smooth sailing. Stevenson and his team have faced several challenges, including helping to guide the company during a global pandemic and leading the business through numerous complicated acquisitions.
“Overseeing the legal responsibilities for a complex business through approximately 30 acquisitions and divestitures during an era of accelerated and expanding regulation,” Stevenson said when asked what the most significant challenge he’s faced during his time with Arcosa has been.
The Historic Deal
Despite all the success he has achieved and the challenges he’s overcome since joining Arcosa in 2018, the most notable event was the deal he helped finalize in October 2024.
The deal saw Arcosa acquire a construction materials business based in New Jersey, Stavola Holding Corp., and its other affiliated entities for $1.2 billion, making it the largest deal in Arcosa’s history.
How did Stevenson and his team manage to bring such a substantial deal to fruition after less than six years at Arcosa?
It began with reviewing a handful of critical factors they had to consider before they could even contemplate closing the largest deal in the company’s history.
The primary consideration was selecting appropriate outside counsel for the deal.
Since Stevenson developed the legal team and department at Arcosa, he has actively sought specific qualities in outside corporate counsel to ensure effective collaboration and successful transactions. Despite the substantial size of this deal, Stevenson approached it with the same standards as any other.
“We look for firms that know our business and can prioritize what is important while working effectively and efficiently in a way that reflects the integrity of Arcosa and its stakeholders,” Stevenson said, noting it’s important to him that the outside counsel understands his firm’s “big picture” and how their actions genuinely impact that picture when they are aiding in executing his firm’s overall legal strategy in a transaction.
Additionally, Stevenson looks for and enjoys working with outside counsel that allow him to be very hands-on in the deal and will enable him to ask them many questions if needed.
“Most importantly, if you have the privilege of representing a great organization like Arcosa, you are expected and encouraged to always act ethically and with integrity,” Stevens said.
When it was time to select outside counsel for the Stavola deal, Stevenson and his team chose to work with a firm they were familiar with and trusted: Kirkland & Ellis. They relied on their experience with the firm, which gave them confidence in their decision.
“The Kirkland & Ellis team, led by Kevin Crews, along with Jennifer Gasser, Jonathan Kidwell and Cat Leveque, has represented Arcosa in many of our construction products acquisitions and have developed an affinity and understanding of our business and relationships with our business clients,” Stevenson said.
Alongside Kirkland, Arcosa also brought in Baker Botts, which served as the company’s legal advisor on the financing committed to the deal, while Gibson Dunn served as Arcosa’s legal advisor on the asset divestiture.
With outside counsel secured, it was time to address the next set of considerations and challenges. This involved a genuine assessment of whether Stevenson and his team thought the company should proceed with the deal.
“The challenge was evaluating the legal and business risks of entering a new geographic market at an unprecedented financial commitment against the benefit of entering the nation’s largest metro area and acquiring a business with a strong operational history,” Stevenson said.
These considerations were important for Arcosa because, despite having expanded its construction products segment through more than $2.7 billion over 25 acquisitions, primarily in Texas, the Southwest and the Southeast, the company it aimed to acquire in Stavola was significantly different from its previous deals. It was a 75-year-old business that primarily served New Jersey and New York — one where Arcosa had no actual operating experience.
Determining whether Arcosa could operate a large-scale business in unfamiliar territory with unique requirements was the main challenge he, his team, and Kirkland faced.
In addition to weighing the pros and cons of that transaction, the company was also in the process of signing the divestiture of Arcosa’s steel railcar components business, which Stevenson called “an equally challenging transaction.”
“With the support of our outside counsel Kirkland & Ellis, led by Kevin Crews, who brought us creative solutions to resolve these challenges, we were able to thoroughly vet the risks and opportunities and ultimately support the decision to pursue and close the Stavola acquisition,” Stevenson said.
When asked how the deal finally closed, the Stevenson deferred credit to others: his associate GCs, Mark Elmore and Justin Allen, corporate counsel Maria Cardenas, along with Susan Wetzel and Tiffany Walker at Haynes Boone and Samantha Crispin, Sarah Dodson, Luke Weedon and Tala Esmaili from Baker Botts.
Stevenson’s decision to go in-house in 2004 with Blockbuster has proven fruitful for both him and Arcosa. His transition in-house and ultimately gave him the necessary experience to help him aid in closing the largest deal in the firm’s history.
As he reflects on his experiences so far and considers the future for himself and his team, he wants to ensure that they continue to make the necessary progress to propel the business forward while always keeping the best interest of Arcosa and its stakeholders in mind.
“The legal team at Arcosa has successfully navigated Arcosa’s progress in executing its strategic transformation with the Stavola acquisition and the divestitures of Arcosa’s tank and steel components businesses while meeting the day-to-day legal needs of our clients,” Stevenson said.
FUN FACTS: Bryan Stevenson
- Favorite book: All of Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey and Maturin series because it involves my favorite subject of history and lessons on leadership, teamwork, and bravery. A close second would be Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove series chronicling the memorable adventures of Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call.
- Favorite music group: As a music lover, it’s impossible for me to pick just one. My favorites are wide-ranging, from standard bearers like Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Elvis Presley, and Willie Nelson to classic ’80s and ’90s music like U2, Tears for Fears, INXS and Phil Collins, to my current favorites Khruangbin and Eric Church.
- Favorite movie? Hoosiers
- Favorite restaurant: We’re fortunate to have so many great restaurants in North Texas, but two local legends are my go-to favorites: Mi Cocina’s cheese enchiladas and Dakota’s clam chowder.
- Favorite beverage: Mi Cocina’s Mambo Taxi, of course.
- Favorite vacation: Any vacation I can take with my beautiful wife.
- Heroes in life: My parents, who raised me the right way and sacrificed to give me the opportunity to be in a position to be considered for this award.