ニュース
10 Mar 2008
DLA Piper enters Houston market to build a leading global Energy practice
Firm Envisions Substantial Office, Diversified Practice Within 12 Months
Press Release
(Houston) – DLA Piper announced today its entry into the Houston market with the addition of three partners who bring strong credentials in serving clients in the energy industry. With plans to grow the office aggressively, DLA Piper has signed a lease at the Chase Tower office building located at 600 Travis St. in downtown Houston and will look to more than double its space in the near term.
The three lawyers establishing DLA Piper’s Houston office are Jack O’Neill, Mark White, and Jack Langlois. O’Neill and White, formerly of Howrey LLP, join the firm’s Litigation and Regulatory practice while Langlois, formerly of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, joins the Corporate practice. The Houston office complements DLA Piper’s existing practice in Texas, which includes 47 lawyers in the Dallas and Austin offices.
O’Neill, a leading Houston trial attorney and formerly the head of Howrey’s global Litigation group in Houston, focuses his practice on large complex cases in a wide range of industries, with significant experience in the oil and gas industry. White has handled several large toxic tort matters, including multi-party cases involving environmental contamination, product liability and commercial transactions. Langlois, formerly the head of Akin Gump’s Energy Projects practice in Houston, focuses on domestic and international corporate transactions in the energy industry, including M&A, JVs, investments and financings, as well as other transactions related to energy projects.
“With 800 lawyers in our New York, London and Middle East offices and with our strong relationships in the energy sector, it was only a matter of time before we entered the Houston market in order to support our efforts to build a leading global energy practice,” said Francis B. Burch, Jr., Joint Chief Executive Officer of DLA Piper. “Given the size and significance of the Houston market and the number of Fortune 500 companies headquartered there, we also expect to build a broad corporate practice within the Houston office as well as a leading litigation practice.”
“The opening of DLA Piper’s Houston office is consistent with our strategy to establish highly respected global practices that support the needs of the major industries we serve,” added J. Terence O’Malley, DLA Piper’s U.S. Managing Partner. ”Our global footprint and cross-border deal experience match up well with the complexity of the energy industry in the 21st century. We have a deep understanding of the cultural and governmental policy issues attendant to doing business in emerging markets, as well as a comfort level in dealing with the range of political, regulatory and financial issues implicit in major energy transactions. ”
“I will miss all the friends I have made at Howrey, a first-rate firm.” said Jack O’Neill, who will now be the Chair of DLA Piper’s Commercial Energy, Oil and Gas Litigation practice.
“Akin Gump is a fine firm with many talented lawyers,” said Jack Langlois. “And while I continue to have a great deal of respect for the firm and the colleagues I had there, the prospect of launching and growing DLA Piper’s presence in Houston is an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”
Building a Leading Global Energy Practice
DLA Piper’s Energy practice lawyers serve as counsel to both national and international energy companies around the world, as well as developers, sponsors, banks and private equity funds. Clients also include investor-owned and municipal utilities, specialized energy equipment and technology companies and petrochemical companies. The firm has represented these clients in a variety of energy, utility, regulatory, privatization, and complex infrastructure project and structured financing matters, as well as litigation and international arbitration. The firm also represents developers and venture capitalists involved in the development of clean technologies, and, through its own industry-leading, comprehensive sustainability program, is itself ISO 14001 certified.
“These lawyers’ wealth of experience and strong client relationships in the energy industry space provide a strong foundation for building our Houston practice,” added Bob Gruendel, a DLA Piper partner with an extensive background in energy transactions and the attorney spearheading the Houston office opening. “They will serve as invaluable resources to our clients regionally, nationally, and internationally and we welcome them to the team.”
About the Lawyers
- Jack O’Neill has won numerous jury verdicts in high profile cases involving allegations of breach of contract, negligence and gross negligence, unfair competition, fraud, environmental contamination and strict liability. He is a former director of the Litigation Section of the State Bar of Texas; a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates; and is a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel.
He received a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law and a B.A., cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania.
- Mark White focuses his practice exclusively in the area of civil business litigation and represents clients through trial and appeal in large, complex cases. He also regularly represents clients in litigation matters involving contractual disputes, products liability, fraud and negligence claims, as well as various oil and gas matters, including royalty disputes.
He received a J.D. from South Texas College of Law and a B.A. from Abilene Christian University.
- Jack Langlois has been lead counsel representing governments, public and private companies, lenders and equity investors in a number of substantial domestic and international corporate transactions. He has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions and dispositions of assets and stock of energy companies, acquisitions of exploration rights from sovereigns, joint ventures and investments in and financings of energy projects, including power plants, production sharing agreements, concessions, licenses, pipelines, refineries and drilling rigs.
He is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the Louisiana State Bar Association and the American Bar Association Energy Law Section, and is a former foreign associate member of the Brussels Bar.
He received a J.D. from Louisiana State University and a B.A. from the University of Southwestern Louisiana.
About DLA Piper
The DLA Piper global organization is chaired by Former Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell and has 3,600 lawyers in 25 countries and 64 offices throughout the U.S., U.K., Continental Europe, Middle East and Asia. It has highly regarded practices in corporate, finance, human resources, litigation, real estate, regulatory and legislative, tax, and technology, media and communications. In certain jurisdictions, this information may be considered attorney advertising.
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CONTACTS:
Eva Van Brunt, Media Relations, DLA Piper US LLP, 213.330.7730
Brian Kiefer, Media Relations, GreenTarget Global Group, 312.252.4113