Executing on an industry-focused strategic plan, Texas Am Law 200 firm Winstead expanded its health care strength in Austin with a four-lawyer group from Clark Hill Strasburger.

Shareholders Kevin Wood and Corinne Smith joined Winstead's Austin office last week, along with of counsel Michael Smith and associate Marshall Meringola. They bring expertise in transactional, compliance and regulatory work in the health care arena.

David Dawson, chairman and CEO of Winstead, said the firm's strategic plan, which leadership approved and presented to shareholders late last year, targets growth in health care. Other industries the firm is eyeing for expansion include higher education, airlines, public-private partnerships and sports finance, as well as middle-market corporate and start-up work, he said, noting that the practices are interlaced.

Wood said Winstead's health care practice, including real estate, M&A and finance, aligns well with what they do. "It was just really intriguing for us," he said.

Each lawyer in the group joined Strasburger & Price prior to the firm's merger in 2018 with Clark Hill, Wood said. He described Clark Hill Strasburger, as the firm is known in Texas, as comparable with Winstead in terms of client base. Rates might be a bit more competitive at Winstead, he said, but that did not drive the group's lateral move.

Corinne Smith and Wood declined to identify their clients, but they said the roster includes long-term care companies, skilled nursing facilities, large physician practice groups, start-ups and surgery centers. Prior to entering private practice in 2016, Corinne Smith worked in-house at Ascension/Seton Healthcare Family and UT Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Wood said opportunity abounds to expand Winstead's health care practice in Austin because the industry is growing in the Texas capital city. The Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin recently opened; Baylor Scott & White opened its first hospital in Austin in January; and Texas Children's Hospital expanded into Austin in 2018 with clinical services.

The health care industry is more mature in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio, but Wood said Austin is catching up.

Winstead, based in Dallas, is also expanding geographically outside Texas. The firm recently opened an office in New York with two aviation finance shareholders who came from Debevoise & Plimpton.

When asked for a comment on group departure, a spokesperson for Clark Hill wrote, "We wish them well in this new chapter of their careers."