Haynes and Boone, LLP today proudly announces the opening of a Denver office and the addition of two new partners, well-known midstream and pipeline practitioner Anne Weber and Alan Talesnick, who focuses his practice on securities and corporate matters.
They will be joined by two Houston-based Haynes and Boone lawyers with significant Denver contacts — Partner Patrick L. Hughes and Counsel Robert Thibault — with the ultimate goal of establishing a substantial presence to serve the Denver business community, said firm Managing Partner Tim Powers.
“Haynes and Boone has a long history of working with clients and contacts in the greater Denver area, so establishing a physical presence in Denver is a natural way to build upon those relationships and reach out to important constituents in the region,” Powers said.
“Anne, Alan and the team we are assembling for this mission will be able to integrate and leverage our strong Texas oil and gas base of operations and deep energy sector expertise, public and private company experience, and the firm’s national capital-source connections to offer clients a unique and highly effective level of legal support for their businesses during a particularly dynamic time in the energy industry.”
Weber established the Weber Law Firm, LLC in 2003 and, serving as its managing attorney, has focused her practice on midstream sector work, drafting and advising on contract structures and key terms for transactions, commercial gas, oil and natural gas liquids purchase, gathering and transportation, compression, processing and fractionation agreements for pipeline and producer / shipper clients.
Talesnick counsels clients on securities law matters, including private and public offerings, public disclosure, SEC reporting and compliance, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, and business transactions.
Hughes, a restructuring lawyer with experience in corporate reorganizations in bankruptcy and business litigation, will serve as the new office’s administrative partner.
Thibault, splitting his time between the Houston and Denver offices, will continue to represent clients in both the Gulf Coast and Rocky Mountain Regions in energy law and commercial litigation matters, including domestic and international oil and gas transactions, as well as oil and gas and administrative agency litigation.
“I am delighted to be part of this law firm’s strategic energy practice growth plans here in Denver,” said Weber. “With the incredible talent available across the 12 other Haynes and Boone offices, I know that Denver-based clients and all the firm’s clients with Rocky Mountain business interests are going to be impressed with how Haynes and Boone can support their growth and other key goals and objectives.
“There couldn’t be a better fit for me and my firm.” Weber said, adding that she is pleased an associate at the Weber firm, Brian Graham, has agreed to join Haynes and Boone as well.
Said Talesnick: “I look forward to joining Haynes and Boone, which offers a deep bench of corporate and financial services practitioners, as well as unusually impressive energy and intellectual property capabilities.”
Powers said more news on the continued expansion of the Denver office will be released very soon.
According to Houston Partner Buddy Clark, leader of the firm’s 75-lawyer energy practice, the Denver market entry further expands the footprint and capabilities of the firm’s national energy practice. With it, Haynes and Boone becomes one of only a handful of Texas-based law firms to establish a solid base of operations in Denver as the center of the Rocky Mountain corridor of energy development.
Clark said he and other firm energy lawyers look forward to working with the lawyers in the new Denver office for regional and national energy clients, and that he anticipates spending quite a bit of time in Denver assisting in the office ramp-up and identifying how Haynes and Boone can best serve the legal needs of the Rocky Mountain area.
“The combination of outstanding oil and gas lawyers in our Denver office, along with our existing oil and gas lawyers in Houston and other Texas offices, reflects our long-term commitment to the industry,” Clark said. “We see Denver and Houston as the two most important hubs for oil and gas independents. With our firm’s national expertise in oil and gas finance and capital markets, we will be able to provide our clients first-hand knowledge of current market trends and cutting-edge approaches to maximize value. Given the rapidly changing price environment for oil and gas, this expertise will be even more important in the coming months.”
Clark pointed out that Denver has a long history as a headquarters for oil and gas independents operating throughout the United States and internationally, as well as regional offices of most majors and independents operating in both the traditional basins and the unconventional play areas of Colorado, Wyoming, North Dakota, Montana, Utah, New Mexico, Nebraska and Kansas. Denver also continues to serve as the gateway for cross-border business opportunities with Canada.
Powers and Clark emphasized that Weber and Talesnick are the ideal partners to serve as the foundation of the Denver operation. With extensive prior experience as a geoscientist working for major energy and mineral development companies, Weber continued to build industry experience on the legal side by serving as assistant general counsel at both Duke Energy Field Services, now known as DCP Midstream, and Echo Bay Mines, now part of Kinross Gold, in Denver, including their cross-border growth.
Weber added that she and Graham particularly enjoy using their technical backgrounds and prior industry experience on complex and creative energy projects.
Talesnick works closely with, and provides ongoing legal advice to, company management and boards of directors. He represents clients ranging from listed mid-cap and micro-cap publicly-traded companies to emerging growth companies, closely-held business entities, and private equity funds and investors, both on an ongoing and a transactional basis.
The Denver announcement comes on the heels of a significant expansion of the firm’s Greater China cross-border practice, which added a six-member team of lawyers, including two seasoned partners – one in Shanghai and the other in Houston. Complementing this effort is the growth of the firm’s Mexico City office in anticipation of the opportunities for regional oil and gas companies as a result of the historic energy and infrastructure reforms in Mexico.
Source: www.haynesboone.com
