(L-to-R) Lisa Pennington and Matthew Caligur.

Lisa Pennington, managing partner of the Baker & Hostetler office in Houston since 2000, is retiring on June 30 and will be replaced by partner Matthew Caligur on July 1.

Pennington, who joined Baker & Hostetler in the 1990 merger with McCutchen, Black, Verleger and Shea, has been with the firm since 1990. She was one of the first female office managing partners in Houston and during her tenure, the office grew from 35 to nearly 75 lawyers.

Caligur joined the firm in 2003 and has been litigation practice group coordinator for the last four years. He said in a statement that he is honored to follow Pennington's trailblazing.

Pennington said she is proud of the firm's longevity in the Houston market, and the office's growth. “I've had a hand in hiring every person who ever came here over the last 30 years. Even if they aren't here any more, they are like family,” she said.

She also said the office has been one of the most profitable for the firm.

After a trip to China this summer, Pennington said she will spend a lot of time on two corporate boards that are important to her — the Center for Women in Law at the University of Texas Law School and The Mayflower Society.

Pennington said her husband, David Furlow, retired three years ago from Thompson & Knight and they have planned her retirement for a while. Furlow is executive editor of the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society Journal.

Caligur was not available for immediate comment.

“He's a great lawyer but he also [is] really just honest and decent and inspires trust in the other lawyers and associates and that's what you really have to have,” Pennington said about her successor.

In the statement, firm chairman Steve Kestner said Pennington has been an important voice for the firm and will be missed. “In the highly competitive Houston market, Lisa led the office through significant growth and has been a champion for women in the legal profession,” he said.

Pennington wrote that she is extremely proud of all the office accomplished during her tenure and she looks forward to “great things” under Caligur's leadership.