Weil, Gotshal & Manges announced Monday that it is moving Gabe Morgan, a partner in its New York’s bankruptcy and restructuring practice, to its Houston office.
New York-based Weil is the latest large national corporate law firm to relocate partners and associates from their other offices to Texas due to the tight legal market where the demand for legal services has far outpaced the supply of experienced legal talent. Kirkland & Ellis, Sidley Austin and Jones Day have announced such moves in recent months. Weil also transferred two New York associates to Texas during the past year.
Morgan’s transition from New York to Houston also highlights how popular the bankruptcy courts in the Southern District of Texas have become during the past three years, as Texas corporations that once filed for Chapter 11 restructuring in the Southern District of New York or in Delaware now feel more comfortable doing so in Houston.
“Gabe’s talent and experience fit precisely with the depth and range of our restructuring assignments here in Texas, increasingly a destination for Chapter 11 activity for companies all over the U.S. in not only the energy industry but across the full range of sectors,” said Alfredo R. Pérez, managing partner of Weil’s Houston office and a prominent bankruptcy lawyer.
Texas lawyers for Weil Gotshal, which has one of the premier corporate restructuring practices in the world, had a record year in revenues in 2020.
According to The Texas Lawbook 50, which calculates revenue that law firms generate from their Texas operations, Weil’s revenue in Texas last year was $99.6 million – up 19% from $83.6 million in 2019. The firm also grew its lawyer headcount in Texas during 2020 to 68 – up nearly 10% from the previous year. The firm has 1,100 lawyers in 15 offices around the world.
Morgan has been involved in several high-profile corporate restructurings, including Vantage Drilling, B&G Crane Services, UTEX Industries, SM Energy and iHeart Media.
A 2008 graduate of the University of Southern California Law School, Morgan said “the very influential reforms” implemented by SDTX Bankruptcy Chief Judge David Jones and Judge Marvin Isgur have made Houston “a more popular venue for Chapter 11 cases involving a diverse mix of clients in a range of industries and geographies.”
Morgan said his presence in Houston “will add even greater value to clients on the ground in Texas.”
“Our restructuring offering here at Weil has been firing on all cylinders and there has been very strong demand for our services across the board,” he said in an email. “My move to Houston is certainly an investment in our Texas restructuring practice and we are confident it will further enhance the excellent service we offer to clients in that market and around the world.”
Business bankruptcies hit record highs in 2020 as oil and gas prices sunk to historic lows and the Covid-19 pandemic devastated the economics of many companies, especially large retailers.
“The current volume of new filings will remain steady and maybe pick up a little,” Morgan said. “We will see some interesting decisions coming out of older cases as ongoing litigation comes to a close and judges have opportunities to publish decisions.”
Morgan said he grew up in Virginia and North Carolina.
“So, I’m no stranger to hot and sticky summers,” he said. “On a personal level, the move to Houston is somewhat nostalgic in that sense.”