Clifford Chance has opened a new office in Houston, bolstering its global energy and infrastructure practice in the US.
The firm has hired seven Houston-based partners to join the office, including Jonathan Castelan and Trevor Lavelle, who both join from Latham & Watkins. However, at this stage, Clifford Chance was unable to confirm the names of the remaining five partners or the firms they are moving from.
The lateral hires will be joined by existing Clifford Chance partners Devika Kornbacher, Alexander Leff, and Anthony Giustini. Kornbacher is co-head of the firm’s technology group, while Leff is a renewable energy and infrastructure partner and Giustini is the senior partner for the firm’s worldwide projects group, co-leader of the energy transition initiative, and leader of its clean hydrogen task force.
Speaking to Legal Business about the Houston launch, regional managing partner for the Americas, Sharis Pozen said: ‘This play in Houston is all about extending our energy and infrastructure practice. We have a market-leading practice globally and the one piece of it that was missing was Houston and having a hub in the US for energy and infrastructure. So that’s what drove us to Houston.’
She added: ‘We have about 700 folks in total in the United States. We have almost 500 fee earners and 95 partners. So, we’ve been fortunate to be able to build a fantastic team in the US that’s very connected to the rest of our firm.’
The new office will primarily focus on energy and infrastructure, with the Texan location dictated by the needs of existing clients.
‘Our clients led us to Houston. Many of them are global clients headquartered in Houston and they are primarily energy and infrastructure clients. Houston right now is an incredibly dynamic marketplace. It is the fourth-largest city in the United States, one of the most diverse, and it’s really the hub of the energy transition,’ Pozen explained. She added that she was hopeful that the Houston base would prove to be an attractive offering for new clients as well.
The launch has been several years in the making. Commenting on the process, Pozen said: ‘We’re discerning, and we play our own game. That’s who we are. So, we’ve watched other firms with some global reach go into Houston and watched the successes and those that haven’t been as successful, and we’ve learnt. In our world, there isn’t always that first-mover advantage. Often history shows that the person who sits back and watches goes in even stronger and better.’
Pozen also credited the reach and foresight of global managing partner Charles Adams as a driving force behind the office opening. The firm plans to expand the Houston office with more growth expected over the coming year, with the strategy for the next three to four years to remain on the lookout for new talent and continue to grow the team when it makes sense.
‘We will look to build out the team further for sure. That is the plan. It’s part of our plan to expand in the US generally, and we have been expanding in the US. We plan on continuing to strategically grow. We are not just a growth-for-growth’s-sake firm. We are a strategic grower and meticulous about our execution,’ Pozen added.
Currently, Clifford Chance’s Americas revenue makes up 13% of its global turnover. However, with the move into the Texan market, the firm is placing its bets on the energy transition sector as the route to breaking the US. As the magic circle firms consider their US expansion plans, the proposed Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling merger will see another magic circle firm make headway in Texas, giving them access to offices in Austin, Dallas, and Houston if the partner vote is passed.
