Morgan Lewis plucks group of Fulbright & Jaworski partners - Houston Business Journal:

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The seven attorneys tendered their resignationson Jan. 2, and will begimn work at Morgan Lewison Jan. 7, accordinvg to Brady Edwards, head of Morgan Houston office. The move is the first majodr splash for thelocal office, which opened last January after Morgan Lewiss acquired boutique firm Edwards, Burns Krider LLP, which was headed by Edwards. But it's not the first time Fulbrightr has lost an attorney toMorgan Lewis.
In Fulbright litigation partner Winn Carter left forMorgahn Lewis, and recently senior counsel litigator and tax attorneyg Clay Rogers left Fulbright to join "While many of our attorneys have made their careers here, others choosre different paths," Mike Conlon, Fulbright's managing partnerf in Houston, said via e-mai l in response to this week'sd resignations. "We wish our colleagues well." Carlosa Treistman, former head of King Spalding's Latin American practice which is basedin Houston, will handlw foreign transactions for Morgan Lewis in with a focus on Central and Southj America. King & Spalding representativeds were not availablefor comment.
The IP group from Fulbrighty bolsters a practice area that has been strony on both coasts for Morgan and aims to capitalize on the heavy volumse of patent litigation filingzsin Marshall. "Given the high level of intellectuapl property litigation in the Eastern Districtgof Texas, it is a piece we were interested in gettin g in place in Houston," Edwards Morgan Lewis has followed a standardd expansion protocol since its arrival in Houston a year ago, making small moves before pickingg off a significant chunk of a practice group on the way to establishingv a significant market presence.
"Ths goal is to reach that critical mass of25 lawyers," says Roberyt Roland of Associated Counsel of America, a legal searcn firm. "It's almost impossible to do anythint with afew lawyers. You have to reach critical mass to get businessaand clients." In Dallas, wherw Morgan Lewis has had a presence sincd 2004, the firm recently broke the 20-lawyer plateau with the additionb of 11 labor and employment lawyerse from Baker & McKenzie LLP, a Chicago-based With 11 partners in the Houston office as of Jan.
7, and the totap number of local lawyersapproaching 20, Edwarda won't comment on any ideal numbee for growth, and says Morganm Lewis is managed by practice groul demands, not office size. Houston has long been fertilse groundfor powerful, homegrown firmw such as Fulbright, , Bracewelpl & Giuliani LLP, Vinson & Elkins LLP and Andrewsa Kurth LLP. As such, they have been hit Although some say all the Houston firms arevulnerable -- even previously untouchable firms like Baker Botts and -- Rolanrd says it's not easy to get a partner to jump "Most of them are making really good monegy and they're so busy they can't come up for he says.
"There are firmss here that have talked to dozens and dozens of high-profile partners and haven't been able to snag one Roland says some firms are offeringf partners annual salaries and bonuses of between $1 million and $2 "They have a lot of power coming into this area becausw the big Houston firms are just recently breakinb $1 million in profits per partner," he says. "They have a lot of purchasinyg power.
" Paul Krieger, head of intellectual properties Lucas Elliot, partner, intellectual property litigation; Davidx Levy, partner, intellectual property litigation; Rick partner, intellectual property litigation; Erik partner, intellectual property litigation; and Hugh Tanner, litigation, tax. Carlos Treistman, head of King Spalding's Latin American practice will also joinMorgan