Veteran litigators Stephanie D. Clouston and Matthew Durfee are joining Paul Hastings today, lateraling from Winston & Strawn’s Dallas office.
“It’s the opportunity to join a firm that is growing tremendously and doing incredibly well, such a global platform. There’s a real focus in Texas and being able to be on the ground floor of the litigation practice growing there, being able to have a lot of input to that is very exciting,” Clouston said.
Clouston has experience in complex commercial litigation, government investigations, enforcement and compliance. She has represented clients in both federal and state courts, handling bet-the-company commercial disputes, consumer class actions, and product liability and mass tort cases. Her practice covers various industries, including telecommunications, energy and infrastructure, consumer products and manufacturing.
She also advises clients on regulatory and investigative matters before government agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Federal Communications Commission and Department of Energy, as well as state attorneys general.
Clouston has spent two years at Winston & Strawn. Prior to that, she was head of litigation at Alston & Bird for 11 years.
Clouston earned her law degree from Southern Methodist University in 1997.
“Stephanie and Matt have a proven record in high-stakes, high-profile cases. They bring to our practice the experience and firepower clients seek to handle their most complex and significant matters,” firm chair Frank Lopez said in a news release. “Their arrival strengthens a litigation practice that is already among the most competitive in the market and further establishes our Texas platform as a destination for top-of-market talent.”
Durfee focuses on high-stakes commercial litigation, including product liability, class actions, breach of contract, negligence, fraud and international disputes. He has experience in both state and federal courts, as well as multidistrict litigations.
He has also spent two years at Winston & Strawn. He was at Alston & Bird for seven years.
Durfee earned his law degree from Baylor University in 2009.
Clouston said her and Durfee have worked together for over a decade. She added that she trained him as an associate and watched him grow to partner. They have worked on a lot of the same clients together.
“He really has a focus additionally on MDL and class actions and handles a lot of those cases for my clients. He’s just a terrific trial lawyer,” Clouston said. “It’s really fantastic to be able to do this together, and we’re hopeful that others that we worked with will see all the great things we see at Paul Hastings and also find it attractive to potentially make a move.”
Paul Hastings has more than tripled its Texas headcount with nearly 90 now, up from 25 in 2023. The firm has offices in Dallas and Houston. The firm saw its Texas revenue jump from $56.7 million in 2023 to $161 million last year — a 184 percent increase, according to The Texas Lawbook 50.