Mayer Brown LLP has snagged a former Thompson & Knight LLP partner as part of its efforts to expand its corporate and securities practice amid a climate of increasing drilling activities in 2012 and ongoing mergers and acquisitions in the oil and gas sector, the firm said Monday.

The Houston office of a law firm with worldwide offices brought on a new partner.

Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (NYSE: ETP) and Sunoco, Inc. (NYSE: SUN) have announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement whereby ETP will acquire Sunoco in a unit and cash transaction valued at US$50.13 per share, or a total consideration of approximately US$5.3 billion, based on ETP’s closing price on April 27, 2012. As detailed in the company news release, this combination will create one of the largest and most diversified energy partnerships in the country by expanding ETP’s geographic footprint and strengthening its presence in the transportation, terminalling and logistics of crude oil, NGLs and refined products.

Suburban Propane Partners, L.P. (NYSE: SPH), has announced a definitive agreement with Inergy, L.P., Inergy GP, LLC and Inergy Sales & Service, Inc.  to acquire the sole membership interest in and to Inergy Propane, LLC, now owned by Inergy, including certain wholly owned subsidiaries of Inergy Propane, LLC, and the assets of Inergy Sales.  Suburban is acquiring Inergy Propane for total consideration of approximately US$1.8 billion in stock and cash, as detailed in the company press release below.

Morgan Lewis today announced that Charley Moore—a leading oil and gas litigation and regulatory practitioner who is a former General Counsel of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)—has joined the firm as a partner in its Energy Practice, resident in Houston. His practice encompasses state and federal court litigation, federal and state regulatory matters, and energy-related gas and power transactions.

Andrews Kurth LLP is pleased to announce that noted public finance attorney Adrian Patrick Patterson has joined the Houston office as a Partner in the firm’s Public Law practice.

International law firm Mayer Brown has added a new attorney to its Houston office.

Paul Hastings LLP, a leading global law firm, announced today the opening of an office in Houston, Texas and the addition of three leading energy- focused transactional partners. The new lawyers all have prominent practices in the energy industry, which will advance the firm’s goal to build a leading energy practice. The launch of the office in Houston follows the recent announcement that the firm was the first U.S. law firm to submit preliminary applications to establish an office in South Korea.

An attorney with a focus on energy issues will run a firm’s newly opened law offices in Houston.

Latham & Watkins LLP is pleased to announce that Michael R. King has joined the firm as a partner in the Corporate Department of the Houston office. King primarily represents oil and gas companies in upstream transactional matters, particularly in regard to acquisitions and divestitures of oil and gas properties, as well as farm-ins and other joint ventures, operating agreements and related agreements. He also has extensive midstream experience, including transactions involving midstream joint ventures, gathering agreements, processing agreements and fractionation agreements. He joins from the Houston office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.