Litigation boutique McKool Smith kicked off the 2024 summer battle for talent this week by announcing four- and five-digit bonuses to its lawyers who have worked the most time on client matters.
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Houston Restructuring Pro James Grogan Joins GT
Grogan, who moves to Greenberg Traurig from Paul Hastings, has guided several cryptocurrency firms through Chapter 11 in recent years.
Holland & Knight Recruits Tax Partner from Kirkland
Holland & Knight announced Thursday that Ryan Phelps, a 2016 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, has joined its Tax, Executive Compensation and Benefits Practice Group.
Bell Nunnally Adds Real Estate Partner Spencer Diebel
Diebel was most recently a senior attorney at Munsch Hardt. He said he has long been impressed with attorneys at Bell Nunnally and wanted to be part of “creating something special.”
Houston Finance Partner Returns to Norton Rose Fulbright
Energy finance lawyer Daniel Tristan has rejoined the firm where he has spent the majority of his career.
P.S. — A Pledge to Help Students, An Immigrant-Oriented Public Defender System Gaining Notice
This week’s P.S. features the winners of two ABA awards that recognize outstanding public defenders and other public sector lawyers and details on a Dallas law firm’s hefty batch of higher education scholarships being distributed to students in DFW, Chicago and Atlanta to the collective tune of nearly $900,000.
Nate Paul’s Fight Against Criminal Contempt Finding Goes to SCOTUS
Paul, who argues that what happened to him in this case is “a stunning episode of Wild West justice,” filed his petition on June 13. The Mitte Foundation, which alleges Paul’s petition contains “many factual misstatements,” has until July 18 to file a response. The petition asks the U.S. Supreme Court to answer two questions: 1. Whether a criminal-contempt prosecution by an interested private party violates the Due Process Clause. 2. Whether sentencing a criminal defendant to jail via email, in absentia and without the opportunity to address the judge, violates the Due Process Clause or the Sixth Amendment.
Texas Boutique Firm’s Westward Expansion Fueled by Dynamic Middle Market
In January, FBFK Law Firm announced its expansion into California by merging with Orange County litigation firm Stephens Friedland, aiming to address the needs of a robust entrepreneurial region. The integration has already increased FBFK’s headcount by more than 30 percent, as the firm announced the addition of 12 new attorneys across various practice areas last week.
CEO Kyle Ferguson chatted with The Texas Lawbook about how the merger is going, what lies ahead and why he’s positioning FBFK as a complement to Big Law rather than a competitor.
A&O Shearman: Texas is Strategic to New Firm’s Success
The 800 partners of the newly merged firm A&O Shearman recently conducted their first partner retreat in Denmark but a big part of their focus was 5,180 miles away on their practices in Houston, Dallas and Austin. The 3,900-lawyer corporate firm, the result of Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling combining, has 64 attorneys in Texas, but its leaders tell The Texas Lawbook major additions are planned.
“We are less than two months into this new firm, but the growth opportunities we see now are significantly larger than the opportunities for growth we saw before,” said Bill Nelson, managing partner of the Texas region for A&O Shearman and a capital markets partner in the firm’s Houston office.
Akin Partners Elect New Firmwide Co-Chairs
Akin Gump, a 900-attorney corporate law firm founded in Dallas in 1945 by Robert Strauss and Richard Gump, announced Tuesday that it has elected a partner in New York and a partner in London to take over the firm’s leadership in 2025.