Vinson & Elkins Names 8 New Partners

HOUSTON, Dec. 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Vinson & Elkins has promoted eight lawyers to partner, effective Jan. 1, 2019: Mike Bielby, Prentiss Cutshaw and Jaren Taylor in Dallas; Danielle Patterson, Scott Rubinsky and Brittany Sakowitz in Houston; Scott Stiegler in London; and Jamie Tabb in Washington, D.C.

"These lawyers have each demonstrated a strong commitment to V&E and our clients and we are excited to welcome them to the partnership," V&E chairman Mark Kelly said. "We are confident they will continue to make significant contributions not only to their individual practice groups, but to the overall strategic objectives of the firm."

The new partners represent six of the firm's key practice areas: complex commercial litigation, energy regulatory, energy transactions/projects, finance, mergers and acquisitions/capital markets and real estate.

"We are pleased to recognize these lawyers for the excellent work they have done guiding our clients through complex transactions and litigation," said V&E managing partner Scott Wulfe. "We look forward to the firm's continued success with talented lawyers like these as part of our partnership."

The following is a list of the firm's new partners by practice:

Complex Commercial Litigation

Scott Stiegler, London. Stiegler is an experienced international construction lawyer with a diversified practice and broad geographic reach. With notable experience in energy and infrastructure, he has played a role in some of the largest construction disputes in the world. He provides results-driven, pragmatic legal advice and representation to owners, contractors, consultants and government entities on a wide range of technical and legal issues in court proceedings, international arbitration and other ad hoc dispute resolution forums. Stiegler's experience highlights include acting on a number of ICC arbitrations in connection with the design and construction of a major maritime project in Central America and providing commercial advice to and representing leading international energy-from-waste EPC contractors in relation to the design and construction of EfW plants and complimentary facilities in the UK.

Jamie Tabb, Washington, D.C. Tabb's practice focuses on government contracts counseling and litigation. His experience includes litigating bid protests at the Government Accountability Office and Court of Federal Claims (COFC), filing claims and prosecuting appeals at the Boards of Contract Appeals and COFC and responding to government investigations and present responsibility inquiries. He also assists contractors with internal investigations and counsels on the Federal Acquisition Regulation, Small Business Administration size regulations and statutes applicable to federal contracting, including the Buy American Act and the Trade Agreements Act. Tabb's other areas of experience include Department of Defense (DoD) utility privatization contracts and DoD Other Transaction Agreements for prototype projects. In addition, Tabb advises clients participating in mergers and acquisitions involving government contractors and assists companies with the process of mitigating Foreign Ownership, Control or Influence to obtain or retain a facility security clearance.

Energy Regulatory

Jaren Taylor, Dallas. Taylor's practice focuses on two main areas: representation of utility and energy clients and eminent domain law. In his utility and energy practice, he represents clients before the Public Utility Commission of Texas, other regulatory agencies and in various courts throughout the state. This work addresses issues involving utility infrastructure, including obtaining of Certificates of Convenience and Necessity, litigating rate approval for utility assets, acquiring of right-of-way for linear projects through eminent domain and counselling clients regarding state regulatory requirements, the ERCOT process and a number of other issues. Taylor's notable work highlights include preparing, processing and seeking approval for more than thirty Certificate of Convenience and Necessity applications for transmission line projects in the State of Texas. In his eminent domain practice, Taylor represents both utilities and landowners in the condemnation process to either acquire land for utility projects or assist landowners in seeking just compensation for their property.

Energy Transactions/Projects

Danielle Patterson, Houston. Patterson advises domestic U.S. and international clients in mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, joint ventures and project development transactions. She most frequently represents public and private companies, private equity funds and financial institutions involved in the energy industry, particularly in the upstream and midstream oil and gas and renewable power sectors. Her recent work highlights include advising EagleClaw Midstream Ventures, a portfolio company of Blackstone Energy Partners, in a joint venture with Kinder Morgan Texas Pipeline, a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan, to construct and own the approximately $2 billion Permian Highway Pipeline Project and Flywheel Energy Operating, a portfolio company of funds managed by Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, in its $1.86 billion acquisition of upstream and midstream assets from Southwestern Energy Company.

Finance

Mike Bielby, Dallas. Bielby helps commercial banks, private equity firms, special situations investors, alternative lenders and public and private borrowers structure and navigate a variety of debt financing and hybrid investment transactions, including senior secured, mezzanine and second lien loans, sponsored and non-sponsored acquisition financings and structured financings. His industry experience includes midstream and upstream oil and gas and related services, alternative energy, trucking and transportation services, manufacturing, medical, biomedical and pharmaceutical technology and services, healthcare services, financial services, consumer retail and social media, among others. Among his notable representations, Bielby advises a lead left arranger and administrative agent in a $1.39 billion unsecured revolving credit facility provided to a public natural gas storage, transportation and processing company and a special situations investor and its co-investors in a $247.5 million secured term loan credit facility provided to a grid-scale solar generation project development and construction business.

Merger and Acquisitions/Capital Markets

Scott Rubinsky, Houston. Rubinsky's principal area of practice is corporate finance and securities law, including securities offerings, private equity, mergers and acquisitions and general corporate representation. His capital markets experience includes representation of both issuers and underwriters in initial public offerings, as well as public and private offerings of equity and debt securities. Rubinsky also works with private equity investors, their portfolio companies and a variety of other public and private companies in connection with mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, strategic investments and spin-offs. Rubinsky advised Berry Petroleum Corporation in its $182 million initial public offering and Magnolia Oil & Gas Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company formed by TPG, in its $2.7 billion combination with EnerVest's South Texas Division. Rubinsky also advised Antero Resources Corporation, Antero Midstream Partners LP and Antero Midstream GP LP in multiple public and private offerings of debt and equity securities with combined aggregate value of more than $4 billion.

Brittany Sakowitz, Houston. Sakowitz concentrates her practice on mergers and acquisitions and private equity. She has counseled private equity investors, their portfolio companies and other public and private companies in connection with mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, offerings of equity and debt securities and general corporate governance matters. Sakowitz has advised clients across a broad range of industries, including energy (upstream, midstream, oilfield services and power), consumer products and financial services. Among her notable representative experience, Sakowitz advised Sunoco in the $3.3 billion sale of a majority of its convenience stores to 7-Eleven, Omega Protein in its $500 million sale to Cooke, a global seafood company based in Canada, five master limited partnerships in their recent simplification or corporate conversion transactions and SCF Partners in over a dozen acquisition or investment transactions of oilfield services and technology companies.

Real Estate

Prentiss Cutshaw, Dallas. Cutshaw's practice focuses on real estate and general business transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions and commercial leasing. His experience includes representation of a wide variety of clients engaged in a broad spectrum of real estate matters, including the representation of real estate investment groups in their acquisition, development and leasing and eventual disposition of single-tenant and multi-tenant office and industrial buildings across the country. Cutshaw's experience highlights include advising Hillwood Properties in the leasing of a 200,000 square foot build-to-suit facility at AllianceTexas to Mercedes Benz Financial Services; Stream Realty Partners in its acquisition, financing and disposition upon completion of a 400,000+ square foot industrial building in northwest Houston, Texas; and CBRE Global Investors in its acquisition of Concourse Creative Campus, a 751,093 square foot office complex that consists of two eight-story buildings, one four-story building and three parking structures in Atlanta, Georgia.

Vinson & Elkins LLP is an international law firm with approximately 700 lawyers across 14 offices worldwide. For more information, please contact Courtney Binick at +1.713.758.2333.

SOURCE Vinson & Elkins LLP

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