Baker Botts has recently laid off lawyers in Texas due to declining demand.  The last round of layoffs was in March of last year.  The firm states that the incoming first years that were promised positions will still have those positions.

Source:  www.nylj.com

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius has taken David Asmus from Baker Botts to boost its energy practice.  Asmus will be in charge of the Morgan Lewis’ energy transactions practice.  Another Baker Botts partner, Michael King, will join him.

Source:  www.amlawdaily.typepad.com

Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP has acquired a new partner. Hoang Quan Vu joins the firm’s Banking group in Houston. Vu received his JD from Harvard Law School in 1995. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard’s undergraduate program in 1992.

Source:  www.theopenpress.com

Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP appears to be going on a hiring spree by adding two more to its Houston office. Michael Cash and Wade Howard are joining the firm’s litigation practice group as partners. Senior Attorney Robert Montoya will be joining them. This is a very talented group with much legal experience. Prior to taking their new positions at Gardere, the group practice with Winstead, P.C.

Source:  www.newswiretoday.com

Baker Botts has added energy lawyer, Kevin Keenan, to its Global Projects group. Keenan was previously at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, in both London and Houston. At Baker Botts, he will remain in Houston as Partner. Keenan acquired his Juris Doctorate at Georgetown University Law Center.

www.prnewswire.com

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