Steptoe Joins Forces With Smyser Kaplan & Veselka in Houston

Steptoe has opened a Houston office with more than 40 lawyers and business staff from Smyser, Kaplan & Veselka, giving the Washington, DC firm a foothold in the lucrative Texas energy market.

Smyser Kaplan partner Jarod Stewart has been named managing partner of the office, Steptoe said in a statement. Partners at both firms voted in favor of the move.

“We have been approached by many other national and international firms in the past and have declined their offers every time,” Smyser Kaplan founding partner Craig Smyser said in the statement. “Steptoe is different. With its focus on litigation, including civil, regulatory and white-collar work, we believe Steptoe’s practice and clients align well with our own.”

For Steptoe, with more than 500 lawyers and professionals, the new location presents an opportunity to grow the transportation and energy practices at a 110-year-old firm that collected $434 million in revenue in 2022.

Smyser Kaplan, founded in 1995, touts its work that focuses on trials, arbitrations and appeals. The connection with Steptoe increases the firm’s reach in the US and in global markets. In addition to Washington, Steptoe has offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco.

“I have admired the firm and its lawyers from my days as a law clerk in the Southern District of Texas,” Steptoe chair Gwen Renigar said of Smyser Kaplan in the statement. “My admiration has only grown over the years as I have gotten to know them better through shared client work.”

Steptoe is among several global law firms that have eyed the growing, lucrative Houston energy market, which outperformed deals in other industries in 2023. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison has been in discussions to open an office in Houston, it’s first in Texas.

While “The Big Three” local Texas firms, Vinson & Elkins, Baker Botts and Norton Rose Fulbright retain a steady footing in the region, national firms, including Latham & Watkins, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Kirkland & Ellis have nabbed a share of the pie.