Kirkland & Ellis office/photo by Diego M. Radzinschi/Law.com

Kirkland & Ellis partner Sean Wheeler has tried before to woo his former associate Debbie Yee away from Latham & Watkins' Houston office. This month, he finally succeeded.

On Monday, Yee left Latham, where she was a partner, and moved a couple blocks down the street in downtown Houston to join Kirkland as a partner.

Yee, a corporate lawyer, is a "very significant" addition to Kirkland's energy deals practice in Houston, said Wheeler, who joined Kirkland from Latham in 2018.

"We already thought we had a great team, but the addition of Debbie is pretty significant," Wheeler said.

Wheeler said Kirkland, which has grown its Houston office to about 200 lawyers since it opened in 2014, will continue its strategy of adding lawyers such as Yee who have experience representing energy companies in deals.

"There's still room to grow. Our expectation is that the energy market will continue to consolidate and regrettably there will be some more restructurings next year. Between restructurings and consolidations, and the general trend of people wanting to exchange assets and M&A, we think it's going to be a busy year," he said.

In Dallas, where Kirkland planted a flag in 2018, the firm is expanding beyond the corporate practice by adding litigators and building out an antitrust and privacy practice, Wheeler said, mentioning the new antitrust group led by M. Sean Royall, who is in the process of moving from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

Debbie Yee of Latham & Watkins.

Wheeler said he tried to persuade Yee to join him at Kirkland when he made the move in 2018, but it wasn't a good time for her. But he asked again over dinner two weeks ago, he said, and the move came together quickly.

"It was kind of right place, right time," he said.

Yee explained that when Wheeler joined Kirkland she had just found out she was pregnant with her second child.

"I thought that would be too much life change at one time, but I've always had my mind on Kirkland," said Yee, who was the third associate hired by Latham when it launched its Houston office in 2010.

Yee said her bread-and-butter practice is representing public companies in M&A and capital markets work, but she sees much opportunity at Kirkland because of the strength of its private equity and restructuring practices.

Wheeler and Yee actually have been working on opposite sides of a deal this fall. Yee represented Energy Transfer LP in the Dallas master limited partnership's pending $5 billion acquisition of Tulsa-based energy transport company SemGroup Corp. Sem Group had turned to Kirkland, with Wheeler as one of the lead partners.

Yee declined to identify her clients, but said she represents many companies in the midstream and upstream sectors.

When asked for a comment on Yee's departure, a spokeswoman for Latham said in a statement: "We thank Debbie for her service and wish her all the best."

Read More

Kirkland Nabs Gibson Dunn Antitrust Trio in Dallas, D.C.

Latham, Kirkland Get Work on $5B Acquisition of Energy Transport Co.

Dealmakers of the Week: Ryan Maierson and Debbie Yee of Latham & Watkins

Slowed Energy M&A Is a Downer for Some Texas Firms