McGuireWoods has added a pair of lawyers in Houston who happen to be married.

Meghaan Madriz, an employment litigator, and her husband Yasser Madriz, who handles complex litigation, started work at the firm on Aug. 6. They came from Haynes and Boone, where he was a partner and she was an associate.

The Madrizes said they could not pass up the opportunity to join McGuireWoods together.

“McGuireWoods has an incredible reputation for being a powerhouse in litigation—a well-established reputation for excellence, 500 litigators across the U.S. and Europe, and that's about half of the firm,“ Yasser Madriz said. “That was really appealing to me.“

He handles technology and intellectual property disputes, trade secret theft, unfair competition claims and energy litigation, and many of his clients are based outside the country. A native Spanish speaker, Yasser Madriz represents a number of Latin American clients in U.S. and international courts, but he declined to identify them.

Another plus, Yasser Madriz said, is McGuireWoods' commitment to growing in Texas. The firm has a total of 61 lawyers based in Austin, Dallas and Houston.

Jay Hughes, who took over last year as managing partner of the firm's Houston office, said in a statement that Yasser Madriz' years of experience advising international companies in U.S. courts will improve McGuireWoods' ability to serve clients in complex business disputes.

Meghaan Madriz said she is the only labor and employment litigator in the firm's Houston office and is excited about the opportunity to grow her practice. She said her clients are in the oil and gas and energy sectors, as well as in health care, but declined to identify them.

“Meghaan brings particular acumen advising hospitals and healthcare companies, oil and gas businesses and other employers in high-stakes wage-and-hour disputes,“ said a statement from Bruce Steen, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based chair of McGuireWoods' labor and employment department.

Yasser Madriz, who spent 16 years at Haynes and Boone, said the opportunity to join McGuireWoods came about through “serendipity“ and was appealing.

“They were relentless in pursuing both of us, individually and together,“ he said.

Haynes and Boone, which in June opened a second office near Houston, wished the Madrizes well in their future endeavors.

“We appreciate their contribution to Haynes and Boone and wish them well in their new position,” said a statement provided by Timothy Powers, the firm's managing partner.