Steven Tyndall has joined law firm Baker Botts today, January 1, 2009. Tyndall has vast experience in the following: corporate law, sercurities and mergers and acquisitions. He joins Baker’s Austin office from Fish & Richardson, where he was partner.

Source:  www.istockanaylst.com

K&L Gates has announced the addition of attorneys Mary Schaerdel Dietz and Roderick (Rick) B. Williams. Both join the Austin office as partners. Dietz, previously at Fulbright & Jaworski LLP, is a commercial litigator. Williams, formerally with Vinson & Elkins LLP, joins the intellectual property litigation team.

Source:  www.lawfuel.com

Dewey & LeBoeuf has announced its plans to close three US offices in an attempt to boost its major capital markets practice. The Jacksonville office will close at the end of this year in December. The Hartford office is to close in February and the Austin office will be closing in March 2009. All 48 lawyers amongst the three offices are asked to remain with Dewey & LeBouef and relocate to another of its offices.
Source: www.thelawyer.com

Eversheds has announced plans for big changes for its litigation management; they will soon have four department head, instead of the current 10. This strategy will support the overall objective to target commercial clients.
Source: www.thelawyer.com

Tommy Jacks, a top litigator, has moved to the Austin, Texas branch of Fish & Richardson. Jacks, who has previously ran his own practice, joins as a partner.
Source: www.bizjournals.com

The merger between Locke Liddell & Sapp PLLC and Lord Bissell & Brook LLP becomes official as of today. The new firm will be called Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP and has 700 attorneys in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, London, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Sacramento and Washington, D.C..

Mary Keller has joined Winstead’s Austin office as a shareholder in the Corporate and Securities Group. Her work deals mostly with insurance regulation and regulatory litigation. Keller was formerly an Associate Commissioner of Insurance at the Texas Department of Insurance, as well as a former Texas First Assistant Attorney General. With offices in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, The Woodlands, TX, and Washington, D.C., Winstead is one of the largest business law firms in Texas.
Source: www.lawfuel.com

Houston-based law firm Yetter & Warden LLP has opened an office in Austin which will have six or seven attorneys. The Austin office will focus on a national apellate practice and major clients include American Airlines, General Electric, Levi Strauss & Co., and Southwest Airlines. Greg Coleman, previously of Weil Gotshal & Manges’s national appellate practice in Austin, will head the new office.
Source:www.news.moneycentral.msn.com

Merger talks have begun between Texas firm Hughes & Luce, and international powerhouse K&L Gates. Hughes & Luce has about 150 attorneys in offices in Dallas, Ft. Worth, and Austin, the majority working in Dallas. A combination of the two firms would create a firm of more than 1,500 lawyers in 24 offices the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Hughes & Luce is interested in the deal because the firm has increasingly seen a need to service clients outside of Texas. Additionally, the people and culture of K&L Gates seem like a good fit for the firm. For K&L Gates, having a stronger foothold in Texas is an attractive prospect considering that ten percent of Fortune 1,000 companies are located in Texas. The firms hope to come to an agreement and combine by the end of the year.
Source: www.dallasnews.com