DLA Piper has broadened its corporate transactional practice in Houston with the hiring of a partner from a competitor.
Drew Baldinger comes joins DLA Piper from Andrews Kurth. Baldinger has a broad client base including financial institutions, developers, investors, and exploration and production companies active in the oil, gas, and power sectors. He advises his clients on the development, building, and operation of projects in the resources sector as well as on financings, acquisitions, and divestitures of such projects. Yet another area of his practice involves renewable energy.
In a discussion with IFLR1000, Baldinger emphasized how macro trends highlight the need for versatility on the part of lawyers advising clients in the Houston market.
“Given that energy commodity pricing in a global economy is affected by numerous, unpredictable factors, it’s very difficult to specifically determine where energy demand will always be. It’s essential to have a broad transactional energy practice, covering, among other things, M&A, joint ventures, project development, and non-recourse and other financing, in upstream, downstream and midstream oil and gas, renewables, conventional power, transmission, gas-to-liquids and other infrastructure, allowing a firm to pivot to client needs,” Baldinger stated.
Baldinger said he has been quite busy in 2015, although the focus of his practice has shifted somewhat.
“While, in prior years, I have had a larger percentage of my work related to oil and gas, this year has focused more on solar acquisitions in California and gas-to-liquids deals along the Gulf Coast. I’ve worked on various infrastructure developments, where clients use gas as a feed stock and turn it into something else, whether methanol or LNG or some other product,” he commented.
“I think that there will be continued interest in the development of gas-to-liquids along the Gulf Coast due to natural gas prices. I do see that continuing well into 2016,” Baldinger added.
Baldinger holds a J.D. and a B.A. from the University of Texas.