Inadmissible

Winstead, which made 21 lateral hires in Texas in 2010, picked up six new lateral hires on March 1 in two offices. That makes a total of eight lateral hires since Jan. 1, 2011, for the 263-lawyer, Dallas-based firm. More hires are on tap, says Peyton Smith , a shareholder in Austin who is the firmwide lateral hiring shareholder. “We are keeping those efforts on the front burner,” Smith says. In Austin, two real estate lawyers led by Bob Burton joined Winstead on March 1, coming from Armbrust & Brown of Austin. In Fort Worth, four lawyers, led by Jeff King , joined the firm’s energy and environmental law practice group. They had practiced at K&L Gates in Dallas. Burton, a shareholder, says he represents national, regional and local developers and builders, has a statewide practice representing community associations, and expects to grow those practices at Winstead. He is joined at Winstead by of counsel Carey Gunn Helm , who has a similar practice. Burton will co-chair the firm’s mixed-use practice group with Dallas shareholder Ed Peterson . Burton’s clients include Fort Worth-based D.R. Horton Inc., Toll Brothers Inc. of Horsham, Pa., and Standard Pacific Corp. of Irving, Calif. In Fort Worth, King joined Winstead along with shareholder Jamie Bryan , of counsel Scott Gladden and associate Mitch Murphy , Winstead announced on March 1. Smith says the group’s oil-and-gas clients include XTO Energy Inc. of Fort Worth. King did not return a telephone message. Other Winstead laterals in 2011 include commercial litigator Merritt Clements , who joined Winstead on Feb. 14 in San Antonio. Clements, formerly of Strasburger & Price in San Antonio, says he’s excited to start a litigation practice for Winstead in San Antonio. He declines to identify any clients. In January, Andrew Fono , formerly a partner in Haynes and Boone , joined Winstead as a shareholder in Houston. Fono did not return a telephone message. Kevin Sullivan , chairman and chief executive officer of Winstead, says shareholders in Winstead view lateral hiring as a critical part of the firm’s strategic plan. “We are excited about every single one of those people,” Sullivan says of the new hires. David Armbrust , a partner in Armbrust & Brown, did not respond to a telephone message. Daniel Butcher , Strasburger’s managing partner, says, “Merritt was a good lawyer, a good partner, and we are sorry to lose him.” Michael Rick, a spokesman for K&L Gates, did not respond with a comment about the departures before presstime on March 3. Doug Bedell, manager of marketing communications for Haynes and Boone, says the firm has no comment.

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