Willkie Farr & Gallagher Tuesday named J. Holt Foster III, as managing partner of its recently launched Dallas office.
Foster, who spent the last three years at Sidley Austin, brings with him a nearly 30-year practice focused on private equity and venture capital clients in the energy and infrastructure spaces.
More than 25 of those years were spent at Thompson & Knight but he left in May 2021 after the firm decided to merge with Holland & Knight.
Said Willkie chairman Thomas Cerabino: “Holt’s diverse practice, leadership skills and entrepreneurial spirit make him the ideal person to lead our new Dallas office. Holt is well known and highly respected in the Dallas market and beyond as a leading private equity and transactional lawyer with deep ties to the energy sector. We are delighted to welcome him to the Firm and excited for Willkie’s next chapter in Dallas with Holt at the helm.”
Said Foster: “I have long admired Willkie as a top international firm and have been impressed by its expansion nationally and here in Texas over the past several years.”
“Willkie’s unique culture of entrepreneurialism, collaboration and commitment to excellence and the community are some of the many reasons why I was drawn to this opportunity, and I am committed to upholding these values as the leader of the Dallas office.”
Foster earned his JD at the University of Texas Law School in 1995, after graduating from Davidson College. Before entering his practice at Thompson & Knight he was founder and outside counsel for Gathering of Developers, a video game and publishing company, which was subsequently sold to a publicly traded company.
As a senior partner at Thompson & Knight, Foster served on the management committee, as the hiring partner, and as head of the firm’s Dallas office. Later at Sidley, his practice included a wide range of public and private clients, including Pearl Energy, Tillridge Capital and Tailwater Capital.
Willkie announced the Dallas office opening last month with hiring of three new partners from Haynes Boone: Tom Tippetts, Brandon McCoy and Chase Proctor. The firm announced that four partners in Houston (Archie Fallon, Tony Johnston, Jessica Sheridan and fellow TK alum Sarah McLean) would be supporting the new Dallas location with offices of their own.