Trevor Wommack, a Houston corporate lawyer who specializes in reserve-based lending for oil and gas explorers and producers, has left Vinson & Elkins to join crosstown rival Latham & Watkins, Latham announced on Wednesday.
The Texas Lawbook broke the story earlier, citing sources close to the situation. Wommack’s profile page on V&E’s website had already been removed.
Latham, which has 84 lawyers in Houston, said Wommack’s arrival enhances the firm’s U.S. banking and capital markets capabilities.
“Trevor is well-known in Houston as a talented banking lawyer with a deep commitment to client service and a creative, thoughtful approach to energy finance,” Tim Fenn, tax partner and managing partner of the Houston office, said in a statement. “He will bring an informed and fresh perspective to clients and is well-positioned to serve them now and into the future.”
Wommack is Latham’s first lateral partner hire since 2012, signaling that the firm is in growth mode. He will be Latham’s fourth Houston-based finance partner, joining Craig Kornreich, Catherine Ozdogan and Michael Chambers, who also does capital markets work.
“Trevor’s talent for business-focused and creative solutions will complement our team in Houston and across our banking and capital markets practices well,” said Ozdogan, who serves as local finance department chair. “His experience in the energy markets here in Houston will strengthen our finance offerings, particularly as clients seek counsel with a sophisticated understanding of financial transactions and a tailored approach to meet their needs.”
Wommack said in the release that few organizations possess Latham’s global footprint and depth of U.S. banking and capital markets capabilities and that he’s excited to continue to expand his practice in Houston and support clients “on their most complex mandates.”
In an interview with The Lawbook, the 37-year-old Wommack said Latham approached him about coming over to the firm and that the two have been talking for three or four months, during which time he met with dozens of Latham lawyers.
“I wasn’t actively searching for a move at this point in my career,” he said. “But as I got to know the firm, I realized it was a great opportunity, not something you can pass up.”
A 2006 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, Wommack works with global financial institutions, such as Wells Fargo, Citi, JPMorgan, Bank of Nova Scotia, Societe General, Macquarie and Bank of America, that are involved in syndicated lending in the oil and gas industry.
Law firms in Texas are seeing a lot of oil and gas finance work these days, particularly on the reserve-based lending side, given that the equity capital markets are effectively unavailable to oil and gas companies. So bank lending has become even more important to finance drilling and development plans – and attorneys with long-time bank relationships have become particularly attractive for what can be a lucrative part of the business.
Wommack had been at V&E for four years after spending nine years as a senior associate and then partner at Bracewell, where he also represented lenders in workout and pre-bankruptcy situations. He noted that he worked with Ozdogan when they were both at Bracewell and across from each other when he was at V&E.
Before joining V&E, Wommack represented Wells Fargo on several reserve-based financings, including a $1.5 billion secured reserve-based revolver to Indigo Natural Resources and a $1 billion revolving credit agreement subject to a reserve-based borrowing base to Triangle USA Petroleum Corp.
Wommack grew up in Midland. His father, Tripp Wommack, was a founder of Southwest Royalties, which was sold to Clayton Willliams Energy in 2008, and Basic Energy Services, which went public in 2005 (he resigned from the board in 2009).
The younger Wommack spent the summer before college interning at Basic. “It was in oilfield services, so there were a lot of safety issues and regulation,” he said. “It was interesting to see how a company like that works.”
Wommack said he hasn’t represented borrowers since he left Bracewell but did aid lenders in workout and pre-bankruptcy situations while at V&E.