© 2014 The Texas Lawbook.
By Mark Curriden, JD
Senior Writer for The Texas Lawbook
(June 10) – James Leahy, a former fullback for the Texas Longhorns and long-time energy trial lawyer, has moved his legal practice from Locke Lord to Greenberg Traurig in Houston.
A 1971 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, Leahy joins Greenberg as a shareholder and as chair of the firm’s energy litigation practice. He has tried more than 100 disputes to juries and is widely regarded as one of the best energy litigators in Texas.
Greenberg, a Miami-founded law firm with 110 lawyers in Texas, 55 attorneys in Houston and nearly 1,800 lawyers firm-wide, also announced the lateral hires of four other lawyers.
They are Grant Cook, who joins the firm as senior counsel specializing in complex commercial litigation; Wayne Yaffee, a shareholder with an expertise in real estate finance; Christian A. Triantaphyllis, an associate who focuses on immigration law; and Grant Cohen, an associate in the firm’s commercial litigation section.
Leahy has defended American National Petroleum, Total Oil Marine, Nicor Petroleum and Frio Exploration in a wide array of energy disputes. He also has successfully represented dozens of royalty owners in cases against major oil and gas firms.
“Energy litigation is going to continue to thrive in Texas,” says Leahy, who is a fellow of both the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Board of Trial Advocates.
“Fracking is going to lead to lots of lawsuits and regulatory disputes,” he says. “We are going to see more disputes over mineral rights and land use issues, as well as issues involving the massive amounts of water used in fracking, which is going to cause problems with the allocation of water rights, especially in South and West Texas.”
Leahy is a former United States Marine JAG prosecutor and military judge. He also played football for the Texas Longhorns.
Grant Cook joins Greenberg after garnering more than four decades of experience representing large businesses in complex commercial disputes. He received his law degree from Baylor University and is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Board of Trial Advocates.
Wayne Yaffee, a former partner at Gardere, specializes in real estate finance matters. He has an expertise in all forms of affordable housing financings involving low-income housing tax credits and has significant experience in bond financings and new market tax credit transactions.
Grant Cohen, a graduate of SMU Dedman School of Law and an associate in real estate law, also joins Greenberg from Gardere. His practice focuses on mortgage lending, lease negotiations and asset-based financing matters. His clients include sellers, purchasers, investors and lenders.
Christian A. Triantaphyllis joins Greenberg as an associate in its immigration practice group. Triantaphyllis interned at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands and served in the United States Peace Corps in Malawi, Africa. He represents business clients in immigration and compliance matters.
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