Inadmissible

With the Texas economy improving, and the financial position of many large Texas firms on the upswing, now may not be the time for firms to study capital contribution requirements for equity partners. “We’re in terrific financial shape, and that’s not on the table here,” says Robert Reedy , managing partner of Porter Hedges of Houston, one of a number of large Texas firms not currently looking at changing capital contribution requirements. Then again, there may be no better time than the present to assess a firm’s capital position, as firm managers take stock of how their firms might better survive another economic downturn. It’s on the table at Thompson & Knight , although not a front-burner issue, says Jeffrey Zlotky , the Dallas-based firm’s managing partner. “Our firm has relatively low levels of debt, so we haven’t run into any liquidity issues. . . . On the one hand, you like to have it for a rainy day, but on the other hand, we didn’t need it. If we didn’t need it in the worst economy, do we need it?” he asks. Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell of Dallas routinely assesses capital needs and capital contribution levels each year, says managing partner Jerry Clements . “We feel like we are in a pretty good spot at that, but we always look at that,” she says. Cox Smith Matthews of San Antonio has “looked at it periodically,” says managing partner Jamie Smith . It’s a non-issue at some other BigTex firms, including Kelly Hart & Hallman of Fort Worth and Kane Russell Coleman & Logan of Dallas, which don’t have capital contribution requirements for equity partners. “We don’t have one or ever had one,” says Dee Kelly Jr. , managing partner of Kelly Hart. “Once you don’t have one when you start, you can’t go back.”

V&E Opens in Saudi Arabia

Vinson & Elkins opened an office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 9 in association with the Law Office of Looaye M. Al-Akkas. Looaye M. Al-Akkas has joined V&E as a partner and will manage the new office. The Riyadh office gives Houston-based V&E three offices in the Middle East; it opened an office in Dubai in 2003 and in Abu Dhabi in 2007. Both are in the United Arab Emirates. Lewis Jones, managing partner of V&E’s Middle East offices, says Saudi Arabia has been important to the firm for a long time. Jones declines to identify clients, but says about 60 percent of the firm’s work there is for Saudi Arabian clients and about 40 percent is for companies based elsewhere. “The addition of a Riyadh office underscores V&E’s strong commitment to the Middle East and to Saudi Arabia,” Joe Dilg, the 756-lawyer firm’s managing partner, says in a written statement. According to a press release, Riyadh practice areas include construction/infrastructure; corporate/mergers and acquisitions; capital markets; energy; project development and finance; and conventional and Islamic banking and finance. In addition to Al-Akkas, V&E partner Sami Al-Louzi will split his time between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi and partner Ahmed el-Gaili will split his time between Riyadh and Dubai. Also, associates William Page and Fahad AlMalki have moved to the Riyadh office. Al-Akkas says, “If you look at the number of firms that are here already, they all boast strong credentials as to being a full-service firm, being an international firm and knowing a thing or two about the region. V&E . . . had the sort of forward-looking attitude that I liked.”

Akin Gump Additions