Firm Surpasses 1,500 Lawyer Mark
HOUSTON, TX -- December 1, 2005 -- International law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP has strengthened its Texas profile by opening its 28th full-service office in Houston, Texas. Greenberg Traurig's expansion into the Houston area is the latest example of the firm's continued commitment to expand its key practice and industry groups and strengthen its national and international presence. With 1,500 lawyers and 28 offices, the firm has the eighth largest number of lawyers and the most extensive coverage of metropolitan areas in the United States.
"Greenberg Traurig's presence in Texas provides our clients with access to a whole new network of strategic relationships," said Richard A. Rosenbaum, a National Operating Shareholder. "Houston, the nation's fourth largest city, is a natural fit for Greenberg Traurig's international and entrepreneurial platform because of its thriving commercial community, role in global energy markets, world renowned medical center, transportation infrastructure, banking and capital markets and growing international influence. With our new Houston operation, we are now serving 11 of the top 15 metropolitan markets in the U.S. We are fortunate to have found a group of extremely talented attorneys who closely match our culture and share our business and entrepreneurial spirit."
The Houston office will initially be comprised of 17 professionals, to be supplemented by additional lawyers in the near future, who will focus on Greenberg Traurig's key practice areas, including energy; corporate and securities; real estate; litigation; reorganization; restructuring; public finance; and governmental affairs.
"We were attracted to Greenberg Traurig's international platform and multi-disciplinary team to provide business solutions and advice to our clients worldwide," said Roland Garcia, a Co-Managing Shareholder of the new office. "Those assets will be complemented by our Houston legal team's broad experience over the entire spectrum of law, and a thorough understanding of local business."
Shareholders joining the group include:
Doug Atnipp, formerly of Porter & Hedges LLP, is an attorney with more than 20 years of experience representing clients engaged in all facets of the energy business, including energy finance; joint ventures and strategic alliances; and acquisitions and dispositions of energy related assets.
Roland Garcia, formerly a litigation partner at Locke, Liddell & Sapp LLP, also joins the firm as Co-Managing Shareholder and will focus on the firm's community presence and strategy. He is a civil trial and appellate lawyer who was the first minority to be elected as President of the Houston Bar Association, and has served as President of the Texas Young Lawyers Association. He was President of the Hispanic Bar Association and President of the Dispute Resolution Center. He currently serves on the boards of the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority and the Memorial Hermann Foundation, and on the Texas Supreme Courts Gender Fairness Task Force.
Arthur Schechter, former U.S. Ambassador to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, also joins the firm as a Shareholder. He has a distinguished legal background and a long history of committed, diverse and broad-based community service and charitable involvement. He previously served as Chairman of the Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority, and serves as a member of the Board of Directors of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and a member of the Board of Governors of The Houston Forum.
Franklin D.R. Jones, Jr. is highly regarded for his knowledge of municipal finance, and has extensive experience representing cities, counties and local government entities as bond counsel in tax-exempt financings. Adept at structuring public/private joint ventures, he also represents developers in projects with urban redevelopment authorities and tax increment reinvestment zones.
John S. "Chip" Rainey has extensive experience in representing both traditional and online-only clients in the development of their use of the Internet for marketing, E-commerce and distribution activities, including the formation of strategic alliances, cross-marketing arrangements, and web site development agreements. He also has a background in finance, banking and financial institutions.
William H. Sultemeier is a highly skilled mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance attorney, who joins from the Houston office of Skadden Arps. He brings extensive experience representing a wide variety of clients from the energy, chemical, building, real estate and banking industries in the acquisition and disposition of assets and in financing, domestically, in Central America and in the Asia/Pacific region.
Mary-Olga Lovett concentrates her litigation practice in health care and commercial and complex litigation. Lovett is experienced in both trial and appellate law and has appeared before State and Federal Courts in all types of complex commercial and health care litigation. She has represented national and international clients in litigation throughout Texas, and in federal courts throughout the United States.
L. Bradley Hancock is an experienced litigator who focuses on business and commercial litigation, as well as labor and employment disputes. He represents companies in many industries including software, healthcare, insurance, construction, telecommunications and real estate.
Other professionals joining the office include:
D. Brent Poe, who joins the team as a Senior Energy Transaction Specialist, has been involved in all facets of the energy, oil and gas industries for 28 years in both the private sector and legal community. Poe has experience in all aspects of energy related transactions including the acquisition and divestiture of energy related assets, the review of both oil and gas titles for energy financing and energy related contracts and agreements.
Fred Zeidman will add his experience to the Houston office as a Senior Director of Governmental Affairs, where he will serve as a valuable member of the governmental relations team. Zeidman is active in many state and national Republican and Jewish organizations and was appointed by President George W. Bush to chair the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council.
Carey R. Troell joins as Of Counsel with experience in all aspects of public finance law.
Associates joining the office include John Jeffers, Dianna Jones, F. Michael Maggio, and Andrew Wupper.
John L. Meredith joins the Houston office as the Business Director.
“The addition of a Houston office and the quality attorneys we have attracted to that office will help us continue the success and growth of the Dallas office and is a further example of our commitment to the Texas market,” said Scott Olson, Managing Shareholder of the Dallas office. “We expect to work very closely with Houston to bring the best possible service to our clients and will continue to utilize the firm’s international platform to provide seamless service to clients on a global scale.”