Devika Kornbacher is joining Austin-based Huggins Reddien as a named partner, and the firm will immediately become Huggins Reddien Kornbacher.
Jay Reddien said Kornbacher will help the firm “supercharge” its mission of a law practice that “can serve not merely as a support function, but as a strategic catalyst to a business.”
“We know our niche and place in the ecosystem,” Paul Huggins said in a news release. “And the chance to have a lawyer of Devika’s caliber join us to help solidify our vision is incredibly energizing.”
The technology-focused boutique firm said Kornbacher is “a strategist whose experience spans large-scale tech transactions, commercialization of emerging technologies, AI frameworks, quantum initiatives, privacy, cybersecurity, IP strategy, and multi-jurisdictional regulatory frameworks.”
“Our clients range from early-stage startups to unicorns to mature enterprises,” Reddien said in the release. “All of them need and appreciate counsel that understands the technology at a deep level and can operate at the same pace as their ambitions. Devika will help us supercharge our mission.”
Kornbacher comes to the new firm from Clifford Chance, where she helped start the Houston office in 2023 as managing partner and served as co-chair of the firm’s Global Tech Group. Prior to that, she was a partner at Vinson & Elkins in Houston for nearly 16 years.
“I’m genuinely excited to join Paul, Jay, and the rest of the HRK team to double down on deep, hands-on legal engagement — advancing work that helps clients not just manage risk, but strategically shape the legal dimensions of their innovation,” Kornbacher said in the release. “This team is a tight group that has the experience to provide elite service to clients and drive novel ideas from concept all the way to commercialization.”
Kornbacher holds a civil/structural engineering degree from the University of Houston and spent a few years as a engineer at Paragon Engineering Services (now Amec). She went on to Harvard Law School and spent a year as counsel in BP’s global technology and sourcing group before joining V&E in 2006. (When she left V&E to join Clifford Chance, The Lawbook spoke to Kornbacher about how she got involved in IP/tech law.)
Regarding the latest move, Kornbacher told The Lawbook via email that it is “the culmination of a long journey in law and a chance to return to the work itself in a very focused way.”
“Over the past several years, I had the privilege of building and scaling technology-focused legal capabilities — first at Vinson & Elkins and then leading the expansion of Clifford Chance’s Global Tech Group,” she said in an email to The Lawbook. “Those experiences were incredibly formative. They allowed me to operate on a global platform and to help shape how major institutions think about technology risk and commercialization. But after years spent building teams and platforms while I was practicing law, I found myself wanting to immerse myself more directly in the substance of the work that drew me to this field in the first place. Huggins Reddien Kornbacher offers that opportunity. It’s a firm intentionally built around deep technology expertise and hands-on engagement. That focus felt like the right next chapter.”
She is excited about “being part of a tight, expert team that operates as a true strategic partner to clients.”
“HRK was founded around the idea that legal strategy should function as a catalyst, not a constraint, to innovation. That resonates deeply with me,” Kornbacher said. “As science and technology accelerate, the law increasingly determines which ideas actually reach the market and succeed. Structuring risk correctly, negotiating the right partnerships, building scalable frameworks — those decisions shape outcomes. At HRK, we’re positioned squarely at that inflection point. The firm has developed a rigorous, end-to-end framework for technology contracting and commercialization, and I’m excited to help strengthen and expand that capability.”
She said HRK’s clients range from early-stage startups to mature enterprises across SaaS, consumer electronics, medical devices, AI, and beyond.
“What unites them is ambition,” she said. “They’re building technologies that are pushing boundaries and they want counsel that is ready to do the same. I’ve always been drawn to helping clients navigate questions that didn’t exist five years ago, whether that’s open-source software in the early 2000s, global data governance, or AI frameworks today. When technology evolves quickly, the legal landscape often lags. Helping clients interpret that uncertainty and translate it into practical, forward-looking strategy is work I genuinely love.”
Kornbacher said law is no longer a compliance overlay added at the end of product development.
“It shapes the product itself. Those decisions directly influence whether a technology can scale, attract investment, enter new markets, or withstand scrutiny. When engaged early and deeply enough, legal strategy becomes part of the architecture of the business, not an afterthought. Increasingly, law is either the gateway from ideation to commercialization or the barrier that risks putting valuable ideas in a locked box. The right legal strategy is the key and can accelerate innovation; the wrong one can stop world-changing tech from getting to market. Being able to work more closely with clients at that inflection point is what excites me most about this new adventure.”