White & Case, which opened a Houston office in February and hired lateral partners from Vinson & Elkins, Andrews Kurth Kenyon, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, has now poached a partner from Paul Hastings.

M&A partner Steven Tredennick moved to White & Case on Tuesday. He joins the firm's global M&A practice and will work closely with its oil and gas industry practice. He formerly was the chair of the corporate practice for Paul Hastings' Houston office.

“I'm very excited to be in a position to be part of what's one of the leading M&A practices globally,” Tredennick said, noting in particular White & Case's strong infrastructure and energy investment funds practices.

With a goal of expanding its global oil and gas practice, New York-based White & Case opened its Houston office last month with partner James “Jay” Cuclis, who came from Vinson & Elkins, and with former Andrews Kurth partners Christopher Richardson and Charlie Ofner. In addition, Saul Daniel, an England-qualified partner who formerly practiced at White & Case's offices in London and Abu Dhabi, also joined the Houston office, as did Steve Otillar, who joined from Akin Gump.

Steven Tredennick

Philip Stopford, a co-head of White & Case's global oil and gas industry group, said Tredennick brings to White & Case more than 20 years of corporate M&A experience in Houston, which is considered the capital of the global oil and gas industry. “Steven has not only handled complex, cross-border work in the Houston market, he has an intimate knowledge of the city's oil and gas community, and he will aid us in building our oil and gas capabilities to meet our clients' goals domestically and globally,” Stopford, a senior partner in London, said in a statement.

Tredennick declined to identify his clients.

When asked to comment on Tredennick's departure, Greg Nelson, who is a partner at Paul Hastings and chair of the firm's Houston office, wished his former colleague well. “Steve was a great colleague. We wish him every continued success at White & Case,” he said. Nelson and Tredennick helped open Paul Hastings' Houston office in 2012.

White & Case is one of a number of firms that have opened offices in Texas cities since the beginning of 2018 in a heated Texas market that has also seen a high level of lateral hiring.

Tredennick said the Texas lateral hiring market has been more active in 2018 than it's been in any year since 2012, which was when he moved to Paul Hastings from Bracewell.

“I would be very surprised if every partner in town hasn't been approached over the last 12, 15 months,” he said.