As Winston & Strawn executes a strategy to expand its energy litigation and transactional practices in Texas, K&L Gates has lost another partner in the state.

Michael T. Murphy was managing partner of K&L Gates' Houston office before joining Winston & Strawn on Monday as a partner in Houston.

Murphy, a commercial litigator who concentrates on work in the energy sector, said Winston & Strawn provides him the opportunity to be part of an actively growing energy practice in Texas, and also reunites him with partner Paula Hinton. The two worked together years ago at Vinson & Elkins.

"The firm's reputation for high-stakes litigation was a huge factor," he added.

Murphy's hiring is the latest high-profile move in 2020 by Winston & Strawn, which has been in Houston since 2011 and expanded in Texas by opening a Dallas office in 2017. In late January, the firm hired Houston partners Eric Johnson and Michael Blankenship, who had been the co-chairs of Locke Lord's global capital markets practice and who also practice in the energy space.

Houston managing partner Douglas Atnipp said Winston & Strawn is building a full bench of energy lawyers in Houston as part of a plan to offer clients full service in the city.

"We have a need for top-notch litigators in the energy sector. We've expanded our needs based on increased demand from some of our clients," he said.

Atnipp said Winston & Strawn's Houston office began as an intellectual property litigation boutique, as it launched with a group from Howrey when that firm closed. But he said the plan relayed to him when he joined the firm two years ago was to "make the transactions practice and supporting non-IP litigation practices the bigger portion of what we do."

But Winston & Strawn's success in the Texas lateral hiring market is another blow for K&L Gates, which has lost a number of partners in Texas this year including employment litigator Kim Askew, who joined DLA Piper as a partner in Dallas in January, and technology transactions and outsourcing partner Nigel Stark, who moved to Reed Smith in Dallas. Also, Tricia Lee, who had been of counsel at K&L Gates in Fort Worth, joined Dechert in Austin as a private funds partner.

A spokesperson for K&L Gates did not immediately provide a comment on Murphy's departure. Michael Cuda, managing partner of the Dallas office, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Murphy said he wasn't actively looking to leave K&L Gates, which he joined in 2016 after departing Vinson & Elkins, but he noted that the Houston active lateral hiring market provides many opportunities.

Murphy said most of his clients are in the energy sector, but he also has handled commercial, construction and toxic tort disputes. He declined to identify his clients, but federal court records show he recently handled litigation for XTO Energy, Montana Resources and Direct Energy.

As for future growth at Winston & Strawn, Atnipp said he is talking to more energy trial lawyers and others as potential lateral hires for the 65-lawyer Houston office.

"We continue to look in the M&A area for lawyers, and other specialties, [such as] labor and employment," he said.

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