Baker & Hostetler partner Drew Tipton has been nominated to a federal bench in Houston.

President Donald Trump announced Tipton's nomination to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas on Wednesday.

With Baker & Hostetler since 1999, Tipton practices labor and employment and trade secret litigation. He has also worked as an attorney with Marek, Griffin, & Knaupp and Littler Mendelson.

Tipton earned his law degree from South Texas College of Law Houston, and then clerked for U.S. District Judge John D. Rainey of the the Southern District of Texas. He's also a veteran who served for five years in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.

Tipton didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.

Baker & Hostetler partner Dennis Duffy said he has mixed feelings about the news. While he's happy for Tipton, he also realized he'd lose his colleague if the Senate confirms the nominee to the seat.

The two attorneys have a long history. Duffy joined the firm in 2007 after Tipton recruited him, and now their offices are adjacent.

"It's great for him. It's a capstone of a stellar career. He is a superior lawyer and even more so a superior human being and family man," Duffy said. "The bad news is I lose him as a colleague."

Duffy said he expected Tipton to be a fair adjudicator, if he's confirmed as a judge. He said Tipton is the type who can put his personal views aside to follow the law and do the right thing.

Duffy said, "That's sort of a hallmark of how he approached things as the head of the labor group."

Tipton is the head of the labor and employment group for the Houston office, Baker Hostetler spokeswoman Ivette Delgado added in an email.