© 2018 The Texas Lawbook.
By Brooks Igo
(March 1) – Shearman & Sterling and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe officially opened Austin offices today with departing Andrews Kurth Kenyon lawyers.
As first reported by The Texas Lawbook last month, Shearman has launched its first Texas outpost with a team led by Matthew Lyons, who was AKK’s Austin office managing partner, and Orrick has beefed up its Texas public finance practice with 20 former AKK attorneys.
Lyons is joined at Shearman by five corporate partners – Carmelo Gordian, Alan Bickerstaff, Ted Gilman, Brian Dillavou and Russ Denton – and litigation partner David Whittlesey. Investment funds counsel J.R. Morgan is also making the move. The group is known for its expertise in advising emerging growth companies in the technology, media and telecommunications, and life sciences industries.
While Austin partners Jerry Kyle and Julia Houston are leading Orrick’s move into the state capital, the new public finance team is headlined by Rick Witte, who chaired the group at AKK. Joining Witte in Houston are partners Adrian Patterson, James Hernandez and Tanya Fisher. State Rep. Eric Johnson of Dallas is also part of the 20–lawyer group.
According to the firm’s announcement, Orrick’s new additions have represented many of the top issuers in the state, including the City of Houston, the City of Austin, Harris County, the Harris County Tollway Authority, the Texas Department of Transportation, the Texas State Comptroller’s Office, Texas A&M University, Houston Independent School District and Austin Independent School District.
Shearman also announced that it will open a Houston office in the near future that will focus primarily on energy transactions. Texas Lawyer reported recently that group will be led by Hugh Tucker, who chairs the oil and gas practice at Baker Botts.
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