As the race for dominance of Houston’s legal market heats up, the latest firm to make a high-level lateral hire in the city is Sidley Austin.
Kevin Lewis, who has practiced law the past 25 years at Vinson & Elkins, is now a Sidley partner in Houston. Lewis’s clients include oil and gas exploration and production companies, investment banks, private equity funds, portfolio companies of funds, and airlines. He advises clients undertaking mergers, joint ventures, spinoffs, capital markets deals, structured finance transactions, IPOs, and securities offerings.
In a discussion with IFLR1000, Lewis described an exceptionally busy time for lawyers in his practice area.
“In terms of the supply and demand curve for attorneys in Houston, the amount of capital being invested in the energy business has been at a record high in the last several years, and that drives work for energy lawyers,” he said.
“As someone who has been in the market for 25 years, I can tell you it’s been a very tight market. Over that time, my practice has evolved, and it became clear to me that Sidley was a better fit for the particular mix of work that I did,” Lewis added.
Another core area of Lewis's practice is airline industry deals. Lewis put forth an analysis of an airline industry in a state of transition. The consolidation taking place is obvious to anyone who has been in an airport in the last five years, he said. Part of that consolidation involves clients that Lewis has represented and will continue to advise on deals.
“Southwest and Airtran merged in 2010, as did United and Continental. The domestic airline industry has been transformed by that consolidation, and that trend is having an effect on the airline industry around the world. There’s a lot of room for that sort of consolidation internationally, and that will play out in coming years,” he stated.
By contrast, Lewis described other sectors in which he is active, namely energy and tech, as famously unconcentrated and capital intensive. Lewis sees these industries as a lawyers’ and bankers’ playground, continually seeing new clients and new capital put to work.
“Notwithstanding the current downturn that will continue, you’ve seen record debt and equity offerings in the first two months of this year. When new capital has not been raised, you’ll see a realignment of existing capital – bankruptcies, re-financings, that type of transaction – for the rest of this year,” remarked Lewis.
In spite of the consolidation taking place domestically, the airline industry, too, offers plenty examples of local particuliarities to those who study it carefully.
“Airlines are a naturally global business, maybe one of the most naturally global businesses. But airlines around the world are generally subject to national ownership restrictions and limitations. It is an economically global business that is forced to act in a chopped-up, national way. This makes it a fascinating business and very interesting from a strategic standpoint,” he added.
Lewis holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a B.A. from Yale University.