Six public finance lawyers have left Andrews Kurth Kenyon in Texas to join Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe—part of a larger group expected to leave Andrews Kurth for Orrick in the near future.

Texas Lawyer reported earlier this month that Andrews Kurth, which is shedding lawyers as it nears a merger with Virginia firm Hunton & Williams, was expected to lose a large public finance group to Orrick, which opened its first Texas office in January 2016 in Houston.

On Wednesday, Orrick confirmed that Robert Collie and Gene Locke recently joined the firm in Houston as senior counsel. The firm also confirmed that Jerry Turner joined as a senior counsel in Austin, along with of counsel Nathelie Ashby, Eric Johnson and Bill Medaille.

The firm is opening an office in Austin in connection with the lateral hires.

A spokeswoman for Orrick declined to comment on the extent of the lateral hires from Andrews Kurth in Texas. Locke and Collie, who list Orrick as their employer on their State Bar of Texas membership records, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Andrews Kurth currently lists 18 lawyers in its public finance practice and all are in Texas. Two sources with knowledge of the situation said that some lawyers in that public finance group plan to stay at Andrews Kurth and will not move to Orrick.

Andrews Kurth declined to comment on the departures, but dozens of the Houston-based firm's Texas lawyers have changed firms in recent weeks. Beneficiaries of the lateral moves include White & Case, which opened an office in Houston this month, Katten Muchin & Rosenman, which opened an office in Dallas, and DLA Piper, which expanded in Dallas with Andrews Kurth laterals.