DLA Piper launches in Houston
DLA Piper launches in Houston" />DLA Piper yesterday (Monday 10 March) announced the opening of an office in Houston, Texas with three lawyers from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and Howrey.
Two of the new partners, Jack O'Neill and Mark White, were partners at Howrey. O'Neill, who is particularly well known in the Houston market, was formerly the head of Howrey's global litigation group.
The third lawyer, Jack Langlois, is the former head of Akin Gump's energy projects practice in Houston.
In a statement, DLA Piper joint chief executive, Frank Burch said: "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."
Along with the focus on energy, DLA Piper is hoping to build a broad corporate practice in Houston off the back of the large number of Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the city.
It is also hoping to build an energy market-focused litigation practice and is projecting a headcount of 25 lawyers in the city by the end of the year.
DLA Piper already has a practice in Texas, with 47 lawyers in its Dallas and Austin offices.
