Willkie Farr & Gallagher announced Tuesday that Blake Winburne has joined the firm’s Houston office from Orrick, where he worked as a transactional lawyer for more than nine years rising to global head of that firm’s energy and infrastructure group.
At Willkie, Winburne will serve stay in Houston and serve to co-chair the firm’s energy and infrastructure practice.
In a statement provided with the announcement, Willkie chairman Matthew Feldman said of Winburne: “Blake maintains a sophisticated and broad M&A practice — including significant electric power, oil and gas, and renewables sector work — that brings depth to our growing energy and infrastructure platform. This is a pivotal time in the energy industry, and Blake’s extensive transactional experience will be a valuable resource for our clients.”
Winburne gained his JD in 1995 from the Scalia Law School at George Mason University, and an LLM in international and comparative law at Georgetown University Law Center.
In the course of his practice Winburne has represented private equity and credit funds, energy companies, project developers and sponsors, borrowers and debt issuers, investment banks and other capital providers. Before joining Orrick in 2016, his career included tenure at Hunton & Williams (now Hunton Andrews Kurth), Baker Botts and McDermott Will & Emery.
“Willkie’s global energy and infrastructure platform is one of the most dynamic in the market, with a superb reputation and depth of practice in high-end M&A, financing, commodities and offtakes, restructuring, fund formation, and regulatory matters, all of which are tremendously important in today’s evolving energy landscape,” said Winburne. “I look forward to contributing to the expansion of the firm’s deep transactional capabilities in Texas and throughout the United States and internationally.”
Archie Fallon, managing partner of Willkie’s Houston office, said the addition of Winburne comes at a time of increasing sophistication in the energy sector.
“At a time of remarkable change in the energy sector, Willkie is committed to advising the market’s leading investors, developers and multinational companies on their most strategic transactions and substantial controversies, and has been growing the Firm’s Houston office and broader Texas platform to meet that need,” said Fallon.
“Blake will be a great addition to that platform, integrating with Willkie’s global energy and infrastructure team in New York, Washington D.C., Paris and London, in addition to Houston and Dallas.”