Houston PE Lawyer Jumps to O’Melveny

O’Melveny’s hot streak in Texas continued blazing Wednesday with the firm announcing its third partner hire in the last two weeks.

Private equity lawyer Garrett Johnston has joined the firm’s Houston office from McGuireWoods. With the move Johnston reunites with former colleagues Angela Olivarez, Steven Torello and Ryan Cicero from his Willkie Farr & Gallagher days (2019-2021). Olivarez, Torello and Cicero moved to O’Melveny in April.

“We are delighted to welcome Garrett to O’Melveny. His significant knowledge and connections throughout the middle-market private-equity arena will support our rapidly expanding presence in Texas and help serve our clients across the country,” O’Melveny Chair Bradley J. Butwin said in a statement. 

Johnston focuses his practice on M&A, joint ventures, employment and equity incentive arrangements, and corporate governance. His private equity clients invest in the technology, business services, healthcare, energy and industrial sectors. 

In 2020 Johnston helped lead Ontellus’ acquisition of INTERTEL and MasterTrace. Ontellus, the largest provider of records retrieval and claims management data to insurance companies and self-insured companies nationwide, is backed by Aquiline Capital Partners and The CapStreet Group. 

Johnston has worked on a number of other deals involving Houston-based CapStreet, including the sales of its investments in Gulf Stream Marine and the Eads Company. 

The addition of Johnston follows on the heels of two partner pick-ups in Dallas – Ryan Sears, the former leader of Gray Reed’s energy transactions practice, and former federal prosecutor and cyber/crypto expert Sid Mody.