What were the firm’s biggest or most important (non-client) achievements as a firm in 2020?
In an exceedingly challenging year on so many levels, our biggest achievements were the way we remained connected to our clients and each other, and were able to sustain the firm’s collaborative and supportive culture.
We realized that working remotely was going to have a huge impact on anyone with caregiving responsibilities with the closure of schools and other structures and services. In response to these challenges, we immediately created an advisory team comprised of senior leaders from D&I, HR, both our Women’s and Parents & Caregivers Firmwide Resource Groups (FRG), the latter led by Dallas partner Michelle Reed, and our chaiperson’s Chief of Staff. Our efforts included strong firmwide messaging from our chairperson recognizing these challenges as well as guidance to practice group leaders, other firm leaders, and partners generally to ensure flexibility and understanding. We also instituted regular check-ins with attorneys and staff regardless of caregiving responsibilities as a way to stay connected and to help identify potential issues. Our FRGs, D&I Councils, and other structures provided an essential forum to bring people together to discuss relevant topics, share resources, and provide guidance to firm leaders.
We also came together to support each other and our communities via donations through the firm’s charitable giving platform, with nearly 850 people at the firm donating to more than 770 causes in 2020. Most recently, many across the firm came together to support their colleagues and others who were affected by the widespread power outages across Texas in February 2021
As a firm, what were your biggest challenges and how did you address them?
From a client-facing perspective, the biggest challenge undoubtedly was helping our clients adapt to the “new normal” brought on by the pandemic and anticipate the challenges and opportunities that this new environment would bring. While no one necessarily plans for a global pandemic, the practice mix we have—which includes top-tier practices in areas like financial restructuring, public policy, international trade, white collar, corporate and M&A, regulatory and more—ideally positioned us to be able to help our clients in this most difficult of situations. We marshalled resources from across the firm to produce cutting-edge thought leadership and analysis that we published through our COVID-19 Resource Center, and launched innovative tools such as our interactive COVID-19 closure orders map, all with the aim of ensuring that our clients were informed on up-to-the-minute developments and were poised to take advantage as opportunities presented themselves. See also our response to racial justice and diversity and inclusion in question 6 below.
What were the most important successes your firm’s Texas lawyers achieved for clients last year?
Akin Gump advised 7-Eleven in its $21 billion acquisition of Speedway, the third largest convenience store chain, from Marathon Petroleum Corp.—the year’s second largest transaction and largest in the industry’s history. The deal was a finalist in The Texas Lawbook and Association of Corporate Counsel DFW Chapter’s 2020 DFW Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards.
Status: Closed August 2020
Lead Partners: Tom Yang (Corporate; Dallas) and Nicholas Houpt (Corporate; Dallas)
Akin Gump secured a complete victory for Tandy Leather Factory, after securing a venue change from California to the Northern District of Texas, where Tandy is headquartered. In this securities class action case, not only was Akin Gump triumphant on an expedited timeline, but was also adjusting to Texas’ new shelter-in-place orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Status: April 2020
Lead Partners: Scott Barnard (Litigation; Dallas) and Michelle Reed (Litigation; Dallas)
Akin Gump obtained several important wins for Texas animal genetics company STgenetics, including in Wisconsin, where the court increased past damages from $8.5 million to $11 million, in STgenetics’ infamous multiyear patent litigation suit against ABS Global, and in the Federal Circuit, where Akin Gump obtained a reversal and remand allowing STgenetics to continue to pursue its patent infringement lawsuit against Trans Ova Genetics in Colorado.
Status: July 2020
Lead Partner: Kirt O’Neill (Intellectual Property; San Antonio) and Dan Moffett (Intellectual Property; San Antonio)
Akin Gump represented longtime client Diamondback Energy, Inc. in several strategic transactions totaling in 2020, including its:
1. Pair of deals through which the company intends to expand its presence in the Permian Basin.
a. Its acquisition of QEP Resources in a $2.2 billion all-stock transaction, including QEP’s net debt of $1.6 billion as of September 30, 2020.
b. Its acquisition of all leasehold interests and related assets of Guidon Operating LLC in exchange for 10.63 million shares of Diamondback common stock and $375 million of cash.
2. $800 million offering of 3.25% senior notes due 2026;
3. $1.2 billion offering of 3.50% senior notes due 2029
4. $500 million offering of 4.75% senior notes due 2025; and
5. Tender offer for up to $400 million of 4.625% senior notes due 2021 issued by Diamondback’s wholly owned subsidiary Energen Corporation.
Status: Closed (1) December 2020 and (2-5) May 2020
Lead Partner: Seth Molay (Corporate; Dallas)
Who are two Texas lawyers – one partner, one associate – who really shined in 2020 and why?
During 2020, Akin Gump corporate partner Tom Yang, based in Dallas, had a truly standout year. Mr. Yang led the Akin Gump team in over 20 transactions for a variety of strategic and private equity clients, including transactions for several longstanding clients, including: 7-Eleven, Inc., AT&T Corp. (and its subsidiary Xandr Inc.), Triple Crown Resources and Blue Water Industries and private equity firms MPK Equity Partners, Brinkmere Capital Partners, Princeton Equity Group and Brazos Private Equity Partners and their portfolio companies.
Mr. Yang’s year was highlighted by leading the Akin Gump team in 7-Eleven’s $21 billion acquisition of Speedway, the third largest convenience store chain, from Marathon Petroleum Corp.—the year’s second largest transaction and largest in the industry’s history. The deal, which was announced in August 2020, has been shortlisted in the 2020 DFW Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards.
Mr. Yang is also a respected leader within the firm. He serves as co-chair of the firm’s Asian firmwide affinity resource group and on the firm’s diversity and inclusion council, which includes a group of leaders from across the firm who guide the execution of the firm’s diversity and inclusion strategy. He is also the current chair of the M&A Committee of the Dallas Bar Association.
Likewise, Houston corporate associate Leana Garipova shined during 2020. Among her recent work highlights, Leana played a key role on the Akin Gump team that advised Diamondback Energy, Inc. in a pair of deals through which the company further expanded its presence in the Permian Basin—its acquisition of all leasehold interests and related assets of Guidon Operating LLC for $375 million in cash and 10.63 million shares of Diamondback’s common stock and the $2.2 billion all-stock acquisition of QEP Resources, Inc.
In addition, Ms. Garipova was a core member of the team that advised Solar Capital Ltd. in its acquisition of a majority stake in Kingsbridge Holdings LLC from TZP Capital Partners II, LP and its affiliates and the Kingsbridge management team. She also played a role on the team that advised EP Energy Corporation in its divestiture of assets located in the Southern Midland Basin.
Outside of the firm, Ms. Garipova has put her leadership skills to work in her dedication to non-profit causes, including the Georgetown Club of Houston, where she currently serves as co-president, and the Houston Bar Association, where she currently serves as director of the Corporate Counsel Section. In addition, she also serves as vice-chair of the U.S.-Russia Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professionals Committee where she was recognized for her outstanding contributions to the Chamber’s development.
Ms. Garipova earned her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center and served as managing editor of The Georgetown Law Journal.
What was the firm’s biggest pro bono/public service success in Texas of 2020?
In conjunction with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), we helped secure an injunction in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas against a racially discriminatory dress and grooming policy in the Barbers Hill Independent School District (BHISD). Prior to the court’s decision, BHISD intended to confine K.B. to indefinite in-school suspension and exclude him from school activities until he cut his locs. As a result of the injunction, K.B. could return to class, extracurricular activities, and all the normal educational opportunities offered to Barbers Hill High School students while the lawsuit related to BHISD’s policy continued.
In March 2021, along with the LDF, we filed an amended complaint adding new facts to support claims of racial and gender discrimination and violations of the 1st Amendment in connection with BHISD’s hair and grooming policy. The amended complaint asserts that, not only did BHISD selectively enforce its discriminatory hair policy to target Black students with uncut locs, but, when the discrimination made the local news, BHISD ramped up enforcement of the hair policy against other students in an apparent attempt to conceal the selective enforcement.
What was the firm’s most significant move forward in addressing diversity and inclusion in 2020?
2020 was an extraordinary year on so many levels. The pandemic and the resulting catastrophic loss of life and economic hardship created a deep wound across the country. Americans also finally started the long-overdue reckoning on racial justice. Under Kim Koopersmith’s leadership we implemented an extensive set of actions to reaffirm our commitment to racial justice and diversity and inclusion (D&I). The firm’s response to the calls for racial justice included internal and external messages about our commitment to racial justice and D&I, establishing a racial justice steering committee, and developing meaningful training and programming. These efforts included providing everyone in the firm two books on anti-racism, creating a racial justice resource center, additional training on implicit bias, hosting an impressive number of speakers addressing race and D&I, and declaring Juneteenth a firm holiday and day of action.
Externally, Akin Gump was a founding member of the Law Firm Antiracist Alliance, which includes over 300 law firms partnering to further racial justice through pro bono and partnerships with outside legal services organizations, and we also made a $100,000 donation each to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Equal Justice Initiative. Finally, as a part of our commitment to racial justice, we also enhanced the execution of our firmwide D&I strategy including leadership through our firmwide D&I Council, which was restructured in 2020 and is now led by Ms. Koopersmith, in partnership with our chief diversity & inclusion officer, and includes some of the firm’s most senior leaders.
What is your No. 1 goal as a law firm for 2021?
Our primary goal is to ensure that we’re able to continue to meet and exceed the needs of our clients and help position them for success, regardless of what the path forward from the pandemic looks like. If the last year has taught us anything, it is that the greatest value we can provide our clients is to help them anticipate what is to come, and then to respond and plan accordingly. When the world changed on a dime early last year, we saw many of our clients turning to us to help them understand the environment we were all suddenly thrust into and what they should be thinking about. And we now turn our attention towards emerging from the pandemic, we again see our clients turning to us to help chart a course forwards. Ensuring that we are in the best possible position to do that remains our preeminent goal.
Beyond that, we are focused on moving forward on many of the steps we took towards building a more diverse and inclusive firm, and partnering with our clients as we seek to address the issues of racism and racial justice together. This last year has been a difficult and trying time from many perspectives, but one thing it has shown is that law firms can use their voices, and have powerful roles to play, to affect positive change.