Natasha Khan, of Baker Botts in Houston, and Mark Sloan of Thompson & Knight LLP (Courtesy Photos)

Thompson & Knight and Baker Botts are partnering with The Cannon, a new co-working startup hub in Houston, to assist aspiring entrepreneurs—and, the firms hope, to acquire their long-term business.

Both firms have a strategic focus on technology and said they will get in on the ground floor with the entrepreneurs that use the co-working space to launch their businesses. The Cannon opens next week.

Mark Sloan, managing partner of Thompson & Knight, said it's a win-win for the firm, which will station one or two lawyers, mostly from its Houston office, at The Cannon each day to provide advice to the entrepreneurs and business owners who rent space at the 120,000-square-foot building in West Houston.

“It is an investment in the Houston startup business community, a way for us to make a relationship with these companies,” Sloan said.

Sloan said the innovative mindset of The Cannon appealed to Thompson & Knight. It's also an opportunity for younger lawyers to make connections with people who may need help launching businesses.

“It's not really a high-cost investment, but to us, it's getting involved in the business community here and giving something back with the chance there may be some ultimate reward down the road,” he said.

Thompson & Knight is leasing space at The Cannon. Lawyers there will include partners and associates who do corporate, intellectual property, labor and employment, and tax law.

Sloan said the firm will not initially charge the entrepreneurs for legal assistance but will enter into a formal attorney-client relationship once its lawyers embark on larger projects for the startups.

He said Thompson & Knight is looking for ways to innovate how it does business, and the partnership with The Cannon will help develop younger lawyers and advance the firm's strategic focus on technology.

The motivation and goals at Baker Botts are similar.

Natasha Khan, a Baker Botts partner in Houston, said the firm's partnership with The Cannon provides lawyers, particularly younger associates, opportunity to develop relationships with potential clients. She said the firm has a long history of counseling startups and venture capital companies in Silicon Valley and elsewhere.

Baker Botts is not renting a private office at The Cannon like Thompson & Knight, but its lawyers will hold office hours regularly at the co-working space to advise the entrepreneurs and will hold seminars for them, Khan said.

“We are there to help them and share ideas with them, and help them understand the sorts of things that come up,” she said.

Baker Botts has also forged strategic partnerships with two other technology accelerators in Texas—Station Houston and Capital Factory. Station Houston will oversee public programming at The Ion, an innovation hub planned to open in 2020 at the former Sears building in Midtown Houston. Capital Factory, with “boots on the ground” in Houston, Austin and Dallas, introduces entrepreneurs to investors, employees, mentors and customers.

Maigen Berg, a managing director of The Cannon, said about 300 entrepreneurs and small businesses will move into the incubator within the first month. It is set on a 30-acre campus, and total capacity is about 500 companies, she said.

Thompson & Knight and Baker Botts are among 20 entities, including venture capital funds and technology companies catering to startups, that have affiliated themselves with The Cannon as partners or “friends.”

“Those startups and small businesses need a legal resource,” Berg said.