Willkie Expands to Dallas With Three Haynes and Boone Partners

Willkie Farr & Gallagher is launching a Dallas office with seven partners, including three from Haynes and Boone, as the firm opens its second location in Texas.

Haynes and Boone lawyers Tom Tippetts, Brandon McCoy and Chase Proctor are joining Willkie as partners in its corporate and financial services department and private equity practice group, the firm said in a statement Monday.

“Dallas clients have been encouraging us to open a Dallas office for some time,” said Archie Fallon, managing partner of Willkie’s Houston office, in a statement. “Tom, Brandon and Chase know the Dallas market well.”

The move comes a decade after Willkie announced the opening of its Houston office, where it touted clients including energy funds and industrial buyout firms. The two offices together will focus on private equity, mergers and acquisitions and transactional work, both in the energy sector and beyond, the firm said.

Big law firms have been flocking to Texas over the last 15 years to capture a share of the energy and M&A market. Latham & Watkins opened a Houston office in 2010, Kirkland & Ellis followed in 2014 and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in 2017.

Willkie brought in $1.5 billion in revenue in 2023, ranking it as the 30th largest law firm by that measure, according to American Lawyer figures. Dallas marks the 15th location for the New York-founded firm. It opened an office in Los Angeles in 2021, Chicago in 2020, and in San Francisco and Palo Alto in 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Both Tippets and McCoy work on business transactions for public and private clients, with M&A as a focus. Proctor’s experience includes domestic and international acquisitions, according to the firm.

Willkie partners Tony Johnston, Jessica Sheridan, Archie Fallon and Sarah McLean will join the Haynes and Boone hires to help launch the Dallas office.

“Texas is a dynamic and thriving market, and an important pillar of our global strategy,” Willkie Chairman Thomas Cerabino said in a statement. “The decision to open a second Texas office in Dallas reflects Willkie’s commitment to the region, as well as the needs of our clients.”