Making official what was first reported by Bloomberg Law late last month, Latham & Watkins this week announced its hiring of veteran energy M&A/PE lawyer Christopher Heasley from Kirkland & Ellis.
“We are thrilled to welcome Chris to Latham and to continue to expand our preeminent energy M&A and private equity practice in Texas and globally,” said Nick Dhesi, Latham’s Houston office managing partner. “He is widely regarded as one of the top energy lawyers in Texas, and his impressive track record and experience, breadth of practice and industry relationships will do what we value most — serve our clients well.”
Added Justin Stolte, global chair of Latham’s energy and infrastructure practice group: “Chris will immediately strengthen our oil and gas capabilities in Texas and will play a key role in solidifying our market-leading position in energy and infrastructure.”
Heasley counsels energy firms on a wide variety of transactions, from joint ventures and tax equity arrangements to renewables alongside upstream oil and gas deals.
Holding a 2013 JD from the University of Chicago, Heasley began his practice at Baker Botts before joining Kirkland in 2014. Heasley had spent more than 11 years at Kirkland, making partner in 2018.
In just this year, Heasley’s transactions at Kirkland included lead involvement in:
- The $1.5 billion October purchase of GEP Haynesville II by JERA Americas in October,
- Twin acquisitions by Mach Natural Resources from Sabinal Energy in the Permian and San Juan Basins in July,
- A $42 million acquisition of West Virginia assets from Summit Natural Resources by Diversified Energy, and
- The $4.1 billion acquisition of several subsidiaries of Fort Worth-based Double Eagle IV by Diamondback Energy.