Litigator Steven Zager, who spent the last decade in New York at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, has returned to Austin as a partner at King & Spalding, where he reunites with former colleagues including close friend Ed Fernandes.

"It was time to come home," said Zager, who practiced in Austin from 1998 to 2003 at the now-defunct Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison. He joined King & Spalding as a trial and global disputes partner Jan. 1.

Zager said King & Spalding has a "host" of lawyers in Austin and Houston that he knows and respects, and the firm's trial practice is "renowned." He said he wasn't looking to leave Akin Gump until Mike Stenglein, managing partner of King & Spalding's Austin office, suggested he join the firm and move back to Austin when they lunched together in the Texas capital city last spring.