Hunton & Williams has been busy. The firm won over 8 employment lawyers from Akin Gump and is launching an office in San Francisco. Of the 8, four are partners, and four are associates. Laura Franze, joining co-chair of the employment group, will work out of Los Angeles and Dallas. Roland Juarez will also join the Los Angeles office. The San Francisco office will be led by poached partner, Fraser McAlpine, who will also be based out of Houston. Also in San Franisco, Brett Burns joins as partner, and Anna Suh as associate. Justin Smith, Richard Cortez and Jennifer Reith, all associates, will join the Dallas office.

Source: www.thelawyer.com

The small litigation law firm of Eimer Stahl Klevorn & Solberg teams up with Houston firm of DeGuerin & Dickson to tackle white-collar criminal cases together with talks of merging in the future. Eimer Stahl’s new Houston office help strengthen the firm’s refining and petrochemical litigation business and will also help to establish their own white-collar criminal practice in Houston. With new back-up, DeGuerin & Dickson will also benefit from the collaboration and likely take on larger white-collar criminal cases.

Source: www.law.com

While other cities’ legal markets are in a slump, Houston is booming, especially in the field of energy. Why Houston? Houston has strong roots in the energy field and the city’s economy is doing fairly well because of it. Many top firms have recently launched firms in the city, including: McDermott, Will & Emery; DLA Piper; Hunton & Williams; Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; Sutherland Asbill & Brennan; and Greenberg. The competition for Houston Energy attorneys, particularly those with books of business, is fierce. Firms are getting into bidding wars for those seemingly priceless energy attorneys.

Source: www.law.com

Andrews Kurth has created subprime practice group consisting of associates of various disciplinary practice groups. The group will advise clients on a number of subprime issues, sich as potential claims and liabilities, regulatory inquiries and strategic plans to respond to anticipated litigation. The subprime group will be led by Arthur Felsenfeld and Peter Goodman in New York; Robert Godlewski, Chris Allen and Tom Perich in Houston; and Bill Compton, David Barbour and Pat Sargent in Dallas.
Source: www.bizjournals.com

Kurt Nondorf has recently joined the Houston office of Jackson Walker LLP as managing partner. His position entails the overseeing of the firm in its Houston location. Nondorf was previously head of transactions section in the firm’s Dallas branch, where he practiced commercial real estate.
Source: www.bizjournals.com

The Houston-based law firm Baker Botts has reported an increase in profits by 19 percent for 2007. Profits per equity partner (PEP) surged to 18.6 percent at a new record of $1.3 million, an increase from last year’s $1.09 million. Revenues were also up, with turnovers at just under 15 percent.
Source: www.law.com

Lanier Law Firm, a litigation firm based out of Houston, has announced the opening of a Los Angeles office. The firm, which opened a New York office in 2005, has placed counsel Shepard Hoffman and associate Julie Drenner in the West Coast branch.
Source: texaslawyer.typepad.com

Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP has announced that it has hired Rachel Giesber Clingman as Co-Partner-In-Charge of their Houston office as well as leading their nationwide business litigation practice. Clingman, formerly of Fulbright & Jaworski, has been recofnized by EnergyLaw260 as one of the top five female attorneys working in energy and won BTI’s 2007 Client Service Award.
Source: houston.dbusinessnews.com

Haynes and Boone LLP has announced that Leigh Ganchan will soon head the firm’s Houston immgration practice. Ganchan is certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization as an Immigration and Nationality expert and has worked at the US Immigration and Naturalization Service. Additionally, she is currently the chair of the American Immigration Lawyers Association Liaison Committee.
Source: lawfuel.com From 1996 to 1999, Ganchan gained insight into the enforcement side of immigration law during her tenure as an Assistant District Counsel for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. She currently serves as chair for American Immigration Lawyers Association Liaison Committee to the Texas Service Center and sits on the AILA National Liaison Committee to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services headquarters. She’s also editor-in-chief for the 2006 edition of “Handbook on Immigration for Entertainers, Artists, Athletes” and was selected for the International Who’s Who in Immigration Law for 2007. Ganchan, a 1991 graduate of the University of Alabama, earned her law degree at American University’s Washington College of Law and holds a diploma from the Universite Paris X in European and International Legal Studies. She also earned a post-graduate degree from the University of Vienna. Haynes and Boone, LLP is an international corporate law firm with offices in Texas, New York, Washington, D.C., Mexico City and Moscow, providing a full spectrum of legal services. With more than 450 attorneys, Haynes and Boone is ranked among the largest law firms in the nation by The National Law Journal. The firm has been recognized by Vault.com as one of the “20 Best Law Firms to Work For,” by Corporate Board Member Magazine as one of the “Best Corporate Law Firms in America,” and has received the Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s Thomas L. Sager Award for its commitment to diversity. –30–

Sutherland Asbill & Brennen LLP has announced that they will add a former Fulbright & Jaworski Litigation partner to their Houston office. Steven L. Roberts, who brings almost three decades of courtroom experience to the position, specializes in energy, admiralty and professional services litigation.
Source: houston.dbusinessnews.com