© 2017 The Texas Lawbook.
By Brooks Igo
(Aug. 9) – Jackson Walker announced this morning that it has lured four partners from Andrews Kurth Kenyon and launched a white-collar practice with one of those new additions.
Dallas partner Jay Dewald, a former assistant U.S. attorney and deputy criminal chief for the Northern District of Texas, will lead the firm’s new white-collar group. Jackson Walker is also adding Austin energy lawyer Meghan Griffiths, Houston real estate attorney Michael Shaw and Dallas intellectual property expert Michele Schwartz.
With the four new partner hires, Jackson Walker is up to 16 lateral partner additions in 2017.
Dewald pointed to Jackson Walker’s deep roots in Texas and “collegial and cool” culture as motivating factors to join the firm.
“You also can’t beat the opportunity to work with living legends like Chip Babcock and Bill Powers,” Dewald, who has tried more than 130 jury trials in federal and state court, says.
Jackson Walker’s depth in health care also received praise from Dewald, who considers Texas an up-and-coming market for white-collar work. He says health care fraud is a major concern locally.
“I don’t see any end to aggressive health care enforcement in Texas,” he says. “We are sitting in one of the most aggressive regions [in the country].”
Dewald says he is also seeing a “surprising uptick” in the amount of immigration-related work, specifically visa fraud and worksite enforcement. He connects the observation directly to the Trump administration.
“They are turning up the heat not just on individuals but also businesses,” he says. “Texas is ground-zero for immigration enforcement.”
Also joining Jackson Walker in Dallas is IP partner Schwartz. She focuses on copyright, trademarks, trade dress, advertising, rights of publicity, unfair competition, and domain names.
Houston real estate partner Shaw advises on commercial real estate transactions and real estate finance matters. He says Jackson Walker is operated in a way that will help him keep his rate competitive.
“Jackson Walker has one of the most respected real estate practices in the country,” he added.
Austin energy partner Griffiths serves clients in the Texas power markets, such as owners of conventional and renewable generation, electric utilities, utility investors, retail electric providers and large consumers.
She advises on regulatory and transactional matters, and has also served as lead counsel in cases and administrative appeals involving the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
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