© 2018 The Texas Lawbook.
By Mark Curriden
(March 26) – Los Angeles-based Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton has not officially announced its office opening in Dallas, but it is already expanding.
The Texas Lawbook has learned that prominent white-collar criminal defense attorney Bill Mateja, who represents Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his ongoing legal battles, is joining two fellow partners from the Dallas office of Polsinelli in kicking off Sheppard Mullin’s Texas operations.
The Texas Lawbook reported Friday that Steve Fox, a trial lawyer for the past four years at Polsinelli and 11 years at Fish & Richardson, and Polsinelli corporate transactional lawyer Gemma Descoteaux started working at Sheppard Mullin last week.
The former Polsinelli shareholders join Steve Schortgen, a trial partner at K&L Gates for the past seven years, and seventh-year litigation associate Jennifer Ayers, in inaugurating the new Sheppard Mullin office.
Schortgen and Fox will be the firm’s co-managing partners.
In an interview with The Texas Lawbook, Mateja said it was “an extremely difficult decision” to leave his friends at Polsinelli.
“Under Jon Henderson’s leadership, Polsinelli has built a wonderful law firm in Texas and it will continue to grow and be successful,” he said.
Mateja said that he and Fox have known each other since college and then practiced together for several years at Fish & Richardson and Polsinelli.
The Texas Lawbook reported in February that Sheppard Mullin, a 90-year-old law firm with more than 800 lawyers in 15 offices worldwide, planned to open its first Texas outpost this spring. The firm reported $671 million in revenues in 2017 and revenues per lawyer of $989,000, according to the American Lawyer.
The Texas Lawbook reported earlier that former Locke Lord intellectual property partner Jason Mueller is part of the team starting the Dallas operation.
More details as they become available.
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