After Jenkens & Gilchrist officially closed, 93 of its attorneys were laterally hired by Hunton & Williams. Eighty-seven will be in Dallas, five in Austin, and one in Houston. The firm will open a new Austin office to accomodate the new hires. With the new additions, Hunton & Williams will become one of the largest non-Texas based firms in Dallas; the Dallas office will grow from 70 lawyers to 157. The new hires’ practice areas include financial institutions, corporate, financial services, real estate, litigation, bankruptcy, tax, and estate planning. Hunton & Williams now has almost 1,000 attorneys in 19 offices worldwide.

Source: www.home.businesswire.com

DLA Piper has entered new territory, finally crossing the border to Latin America. The firm has 62 offices in the U.S., U.K., Europe, Middle East, and Asia, but none in Central or South America. Taking steps to address this regional hole, DLA has launched a Latin America Initiative led by two Dallas lawyers. Partner Michael Santa Maria and counsel Todd Bowers already do cross-border deals; what the initiative will do is to establish a network of “best-friend” firms in Latin America with which DLA will work closely. Using that network, the firm will build its business in the region and eventually be able to select locations for offices. The best-friend firms include six in Mexico, four in Brazil, and three in Argentina.

Source: www.nylawyer.com