© 2015 The Texas Lawbook.
By Brooks Igo
(March 17) – Prominent corporate governance veteran Kevin Lewis jumped to Sidley Austin’s burgeoning Houston office to help lead two practice groups, the firm announced recently.
Lewis says he “cherished” his time at V&E and feels like he is moving from one excellent firm to another.
“The way my practice has evolved and the way Sidley has evolved, it is a better fit,” he said.
In addition to his corporate governance and airlines practices, Lewis maintains a global M&A practice, where he handles complex transactions, structured financings and capital markets financings, IPOs and 144A offerings of securities. He jokes that he “spends half of [his] time in each [of his practice areas].”
“Kevin has built a solid practice over his more than 25 years practicing here in Houston and has a well-earned reputation as one of the city’s premier corporate/securities lawyers,” Tim Devetski, co-managing partner of Sidley’s Houston office, said in a statement. “His deep knowledge of, and practical approach to, resolving the issues facing clients in the energy and aviation sectors in particular will make him a great addition to our team.”
In the past year, Lewis says he has handled a couple of private M&A transactions for a family-held company and is currently involved in a couple of interesting projects in the airline industry.
Energy prices have changed the mix of his work, he says. Oil and gas clients are realigning capital, while airline clients are reaping the benefits of low prices – either way, Lewis says he is staying busy.
“I have a natural hedge to my practice,” he said. “When one is down, the other is up.”
The addition of Lewis comes on the heels of three other lateral hires – energy finance partner Robert Stephens and private equity and oil and gas partners David Denechaud and Joe Flack – in the past four months. Sidley’s Houston office has grown to nearly 40 lawyers in three years.
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