International firm, King & Spalding, announced the hiring of two new partners for its Houston office. Todd Mattingly joins the intellectual property practice from Haynes & Boone, and Steven D. Rubin joins the firm’s corporate group from Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Mattingly focuses on IP matters involving electrical and mechanical engineering, while Rubin deals in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets transactions, restructurings and other financing transactions. Including these two new additions, the Houston office has acquired 11 new partners over the last 18 months. In total, the firm’s Houston office has over 100 attorneys.
Source: www.marketwire.com
Ten lawyers from Jenkens & Gilchrist’s San Antonio office have joined Jackson Walker’s central Texas office. Four of the lawyers join as partner, one as of counsel, and the remaining five are associates. Two other attorneys from Jenkens are moving to Winstead’s San Antonio office. With the new additions, Jackson Walker’s office now has 30 lawyers. The decision to close Jenkens’ San Antonio office was made in January, and comes after the closing of the firm’s Houston and LA offices.
Source: www.law.com
Fort Worth, TX-based firm Kelly, Hart & Hallman will be opening an office in Houston within the next few months. Two Houston partners from Vinson & Elkins, along with former Enron Corp. general counsel James V. Derrick Jr. and Kelly Hart partner J. Clark Martin, will open the new office. Representatives from Kelly Hart claimed a friendly relationship between the two firms; Vinson & Elkins’ management declined comment. The new Houston office has room to grow, with space for 15 attorneys.
Source: www.law.com
On Jan. 17, San Francisco’s Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold opened in Houston with the arrival of four new attorneys. Carrie Weitinger, Julia Adams, and associate Monica Fendler are leaving Houston’s Westmoreland Hall to join the new office; former Germer Gertz associate Shannon Thorne is also coming aboard. Sedgwick’s TX managing partner reported that the firm wanted to open an office in Houston because the city is one of the country’s major litigation centers. Opened in 2001, Dallas was the firm’s first Texas office, and Austin was second in 2006. In total, Sedgwick has 370 attorneys in 13 offices worldwide.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
Next month, Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams & Martin of Houston, TX will be expanding. With the acquisition of three partners and one associate from the Philadelphia office of Washington, D.C.’s Miller & Chevalier, Chamberlain Hrdlicka will open their own office in Philly. Herbert Odell, Philip Karter and Kevin Johnson will join Chamberlain Hrdlicka as shareholders. Jonathan Prokup joins the firm as a senior associate. Chamberlain Hdrlicka started in 1965 as a regional tax boutique, but later added an office in Atlanta; there is the possibility that another office may open by the summer in Washington D.C.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
Houston’s Susman Godfrey leads the pack for year-end associate bonuses, paying its associates double or more what high-performers at many large Texas firms could earn. At the 85-lawyer litigation boutique, 2006 bonuses for its partnership-track associates ranged $60,000 to $120,000. In comparison, for many big TX firms, $65,000 was the maximum bonus for their senior and top performing associates in 2006. Though the bonuses varied between firms, most agreed that for an associate to earn the maximum amount, he/she would have to be a great worker, have put in a large number of hours, and have made an overall contribution to the firm (eg pro bono work or business development).
Source: www.law.com
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius opened a Houston office on Jan. 2 with the arrival of five new lawyers from litigation boutique Edwards, Burns & Krider. Brady Edwards, one of the five, commented that the team at Edwards Burns did a lot of products liability and toxic tort work, which was sometimes hard to do at a small firm, so they took the opportunity to move to 1,353-lawyer Morgan Lewis. Morgan Lewis first came to Texas in 2004, when it opened an office in Dallas. The firm was founded in Philadelphia, has 22 offices with the new Houston addition.
Texas firm Winstead Sechrest & Minick has gained several new lawyers in three offices around the state. The Austin office welcomed Scott Rhodes; Dallas gained eight new attorneys; and three new lawyers joined the Houston office.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
Time Warner VP and Assocaite General Counsel Dennis P. Duffy has taken a job with Baker Botts’ Houston office. He will join the firm’s 30 lawyer Labor & Employment practice group as a partner, with the expectation of heading the group shortly.
Source: Texas Lawyer
275-lawyer Dallas-based firm Jenkens & Gilchrist has increased salaries nationwide, with first-year associates now earning $140,000, The firm’s Texas offices are located in Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. Also announcing raises is Houston firm Porter & Hedges, with first-years making $135,000 plus $5,000 in bonuses. Source: www.law.com
Dallas firms Munsch, Hardt, Kopf, & Harr and Gardere, Wynne, Sewell have raised associate salaries. Both firms maintain offices in Dallas, Houston, and Austin. Gardere Wynne, who employs 278 attorneys, will now pay first-years $140,000. Munsch Hardt employs over 100 attorneys and has set first-year pay at $135,000.
Source: www.law.com
Three more major Texas firms have announced raises for associates at all experience levels. Dallas firm Winstead, Sechrest & Minick has bumped first-years to $135,00 with a $5,000 potential bonus and Houston-based Fulbright & Jaworski’s first-years will earn $140,000. Baker & McKenzie will pay associates in Dallas and Houston $140,000 with a $10,000 potential bonus for the first year.
Source: www.law.com
