Taylor Wilson has been groomed for three decades to lead at Haynes and Boone. He’s served on the firm’s board of directors and executive committee, chaired the partner compensation committee and led hiring and recruiting efforts.
On Jan. 1, he gets a new title: managing partner.
Haynes and Boone, which is the fifth largest Texas-based corporate law firm by revenues, announced Monday that Wilson, who leads the firm’s investment management practice group, will become the firm’s fourth managing partner in 50 years.
A 1990 graduate of the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, Wilson replaces Tim Powers, who has been the managing partner for the past six years. Powers turns 65 next month and must step down due to the firm’s age restrictions on leadership.
“Tim and I see eye to eye on most things, but I have a number of priorities that I intend to pursue,” Wilson told The Texas Lawbook in an exclusive interview Monday. “I don’t intend to step back from my practice.”
Wilson and Powers took the opportunity to cite the successes Haynes and Boone has witnessed this year despite COVID-19 and the commodity price plunge. They pointed to the 40 new lateral hires since Jan. 1 and the opening of the San Francisco office.
“We’ve had a strong first half of 2020,” said Wilson, who is 56. “We are on pace to grow revenues. A number of our business transactions groups have seen a tremendous amount of work. Our capital markets practice, especially involving life sciences, has been active. We’ve seen a pretty steady deal flow. And our corporate restructuring group is going gangbusters, as you might expect.”
Haynes and Boone has 58 summer associates working remotely this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Thirty-one baby lawyers are expected to join the firm this fall.
“We’ve been very fortunate during this downturn to have a diverse group of clients,” Powers said. “We’ve had no layoffs, no furloughs, no compensation cuts.”
With more than 575 lawyers in 18 offices worldwide, Haynes and Boone reported revenues of $404 million in 2019. The firm’s 360 lawyers in Texas generated about $284 million in income last year.
Wilson said most of his clients are private equity firms, hedge funds, energy companies and home offices that do transactions that are private and not publicly disclosed. He has, however, represented EV Energy Partners, Panda Ethanol and Texas Genco Holdings in transactional matters.
Powers said Wilson is “well-positioned” to be Haynes and Boone’s next leader because ”he’s held every leadership position in the firm except this one.
“Taylor is a consummate lawyer and proven leader who has been integral to building multiple practices and departments at the firm and has mentored scores of lawyers across our offices,” Powers said. “He embodies our client-first culture and is the perfect person to help ensure that we continue to develop new and improved ways to deliver value to our clients.”
Wilson’s wife Kathleen is a professor of genetics at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. A 1981 graduate of St. Mark’s School in Dallas, Wilson has served on the private school’s board of trustees.