Hunton Pulls In Jenkens’ Texas Team

By Erin Coe

Law360, New York (April 02, 2007) -- Days after Jenkens & Gilchrist’s announced its plans to shut down, Hunton & Williams has seized the opportunity to pick up 93 lateral attorneys for its core practice groups and expand its footprint in Texas.

Richmond, Va.-based Hunton said Thursday that it expects to expand its Dallas and Houston offices and set up a new shop in Austin with the help of former Jenkens attorneys whose expertise spans bankruptcy, financial services, intellectual property, labor and employment, mergers and acquisitions, and securities law.

The additions will bump up Hunton’s overall team to nearly 1,000 lawyers in 19 offices around the world. Its Dallas office will take in 87 of the new hires, making Hunton one of the largest non-Texas-based law firms in Dallas with 157 lawyers.

Five attorneys will start up Hunton’s Austin office, and one attorney will move to the firm’s Houston office.

Patrick E. Mitchell, a partner on the tax and ERISA team, will serve as the Dallas office managing partner and will also oversee the Houston office. Chet A. Fenimore, a partner on the global capital markets and mergers and acquisitions team, will head up the Austin office as managing partner.

“All of the attorneys have explored several options over the past few months. It was important to everyone to find a firm that was compatible in terms of clients, practice areas and culture,” Mitchell said.

Hunton has netted 14 IP and litigation partners, many of whom have expertise in bankruptcy law and securities litigation. The firm is also adding 18 partners for its global capital markets and mergers and acquisitions team, three financial services partners, and one labor and employment partner.

Jenkens officially called it quits last week after a costly tax shelter scandal wreaked havoc on its reputation and finances. Jenkens said it would shutter its main office in Dallas at the end of March and pay a $75 million penalty to the Internal Revenue Service as part of a tax shelter settlement.

The firm also entered into a non-prosecution deal with the U.S. Attorney for criminal tax violations stemming from its tax shelter activities. Jenkens failed to recover from a 2003 federal investigation that revealed a number of tax shelters, backed mainly by Jenkens’ lawyers in Chicago, were illegal.

For several months, Jenkens had looked at combination scenarios for its lawyers to transition to other national platforms, and Hunton is only the latest firm to benefit from Jenkens’ dissolution.

The firm’s Chicago IP team was picked up by Nixon Peabody. Jenkens also transferred its Los Angeles office to Baker Hostetler and split up its Austin and San Antonio offices between Winstead PC and Jackson Walker LLP. It sent most of its Houston team to Baker Hostetler, while its litigation group went to Porter & Hedges LLP.

Hunton, meanwhile, has had a presence in Dallas since 2002 and has always been interested in increasing the depth and breadth of its practice there and throughout Texas, according to Wally Martinez, managing partner of Hunton & Williams.

Hunton’s energy practice is already strong and has represented TXU Energy for many years. The new lawyers acquired from Jenkens’ ashes will help it expand into financial services, financial institutions, securities, mergers and acquisitions and energy lending.

“It’s one of the singular opportunities to grow substantially. Texas is an important growth target market for us,” Martinez said.

Hunton & Williams provides legal services to corporations, financial institutions, governments and individuals. The firm has more than 60 separate practice areas, including bankruptcy and creditors rights, commercial litigation, corporate transactions and securities law, energy, financial services, intellectual property, international and government relations, life sciences, regulatory law, products liability, and privacy and information management.