Exclusive: Alston & Bird expands Finance Practice, adding 8 lawyers in Dallas

Alston & Bird will significantly expand its Finance Practice with the hiring of four new partners and four additional attorneys in Dallas. The new partners are Mark Harris, Charles Marshall, Peter McKee and Patrick Sargent. Also joining are three counsel – Michael Jewesson, Jonathan Rini and Karen Wade – and one associate – Bradford Patterson. All join from Andrews Kurth LLP. To see the new partners’ photos and areas of specialization, please click through the slides attached. The group brings with it considerable real estate and structured finance experience and capabilities in domestic and cross-border public and private securitization transactions, mortgage- and asset-backed securities and loan servicing, Bob Sullivan, Alston & Bird partner and Finance Practice co-leader, told me in an interview. The additions bring the firm’s headcount to 35 lawyers in the Dallas office, including 13 attorneys in the Finance Practice, Sullivan said. Firmwide, Alston & Bird now has 78 lawyers in its Finance Practice The Finance Practice will continue to grow selectively to approximately 25 lawyers in Dallas over the next couple of years, Sullivan said. “We’re building out our (finance) practice on a national level and we had a gaping hole in the middle,” Sullivan told me. “Dallas fills the whole middle part of the country for us — from Dallas straight up to Chicago. It’s a good fit.” He called the lawyers joining the firm “best in class.” “It was a major coup for us,” he said. “I’m sure other firms in Dallas would have loved to get their hands on them.” Dallas is a growth area for law firms nationwide, Sullivan said. The new hires have local and national credibility, which can be a hard combination to find, he said. “It’s a commitment from the firm to the Dallas marketplace that we’re here, we’re relevant, we’re someone, we’re players,” Sullivan told me. “It’s just a good, solid sign to the legal community and the market in general.” RECOMMENDED RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE Malvern mansion with a Lego room and history of ill-fated owners hits the market for $9.875M RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE Minneapolis condo belonging to the late Walter Mondale sells for $1.85M (Photos) COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE Timpano to reopen refreshed restaurant in Hyde Park Village (Photos) Alston & Bird’s national clients are increasingly looking for local presence, he said. “The securitized world and the finance world is a national practice, but the collateral is all localized,” Sullivan said. “Clients want local people in local markets with local knowledge.” Alston & Bird’s Finance Practice comprises attorneys in Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C., who focus on representing financial institutions, underwriters, alternative investment funds and vehicles and other providers and servicers of debt capital.