Law Firms
Hunton Prowls for Litigators; Akin Denies Trouble
Posted Mar 3, 2009, 04:20 pm CST
By Rachel M. Zahorsky
Although California appears to be ground zero for U.S. attorney layoffs, Richmond, Va.-based law firm Hunton & Williams is targeting the Golden State and Texas in its quest to hire large groups of laterals, particularly litigators, as part of an aggressive five-year national expansion campaign
The nearly 1,000-lawyer firm has added more than 275 attorneys since January 2007, including 33 from fellow BigLaw firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. Most recently, high-profile litigator Edward F. Fernandes left Akin Gump in February to split his time between Hunton & Williams’ Houston and Austin, Texas, offices. Note to Hunton: Legal blog Law Shucks counted 235 newly unemployed California attorneys in February.
“This is both a terrible time and a great time to be a litigator,” co-head of Hunton & Williams’ litigation group and former Akin Gump litigation chair Richard L. Wyatt Jr. told the ABA Journal. "There is enormous opportunity [for litigation]."
While Hunton & Williams denied poaching from Akin Gump, the firm's managing partner, Wally Martinez, isn’t shy about taking advantage of a “delightful convergence of strategy and opportunity,” according to a firm spokeswoman. One such convergence resulted in 100 lateral hires from the now-defunct Jenkens & Gilchrist in Dallas.
Akin Gump Chairman R. Bruce McLean acknowledged his firm lost more lawyers than planned during a streamlining initiative last year, but denied the firm is in trouble. “With over 300 litigators around the firm and 115 in Texas, we have a very deep reservoir of talent,” firm spokeswoman Kristen White wrote in an e-mail to the ABA Journal. “Akin Gump does not plan to close any of its Texas offices.”
Last updated March 4.
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