Clifford Chance Lassos Latham Partners As It Expands Into Texas

Hot on the heels of the megamerger announcement made between Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling, yet another Magic Circle firm is trying to stake a larger claim here in America.

Clifford Chance -- a firm that came in at No. 2 in the 2021 UK 100 ranking with $2,711,508,000 gross revenue -- currently offices in New York and Washington, D.C., but will soon be opening its third U.S. firm in Houston, Texas.

Bloomberg Law has additional details on the firm's plans:

The move to Houston is aimed at bolstering the firm's 400-lawyer global energy and infrastructure practice--with an eye on the transition to renewable energy sources--and fueling US growth, a key long-term strategy. ...

"We are seeing around the world so much going on with the energy transition," Sharis Arnold Pozen, regional managing partner for the Americas, said in an interview. "In Houston, that's the hub for energy work and the energy transition."

The firm has hired Latham & Watkins partners Jonathan Castelan and Trevor Lavelle for its Houston office, and several Clifford Chance partners will be relocating from New York and Paris to join their colleagues there.

"Expanding our global energy offering in Houston, the world's leading energy hub, reflects our strategy to build out our capability in geographies and sectors critical to our clients' future growth," Global Managing Partner Charles Adams noted in a press release. "Energy transition is a priority for our clients and our depth of knowledge across technologies and jurisdictions in this sector positions Clifford Chance to add real value to businesses pursuing a sustainable path."

Congratulations to Clifford Chance as the firm heads to Texas to conquer the growing energy industry.

Clifford Chance Launches Houston Office With 10-Partner Team [Bloomberg Law]

Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she's worked since 2011. She'd love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.