Vinson & Elkins: Difference between revisions

Vinson & Elkins
Headquarters	Houston (Texas)
Number of attorneys	700
Practice Areas	Transactions Litigation Regulatory Tax Oil & Gas Law Intellectual Property
Key People	Mark Kelly, Chairman (Scott Wulfe, Managing Partner)

First City Tower, which has the headquarters

Vinson & Elkins LLP (or V&E) is an international law firm with approximately 700 lawyers worldwide^[1] headquartered in the First City Tower in Downtown Houston, Texas.^[2][3] Vault's 2018 rankings placed V&E as the #1 firm in Texas,^[4] and the starting salary for first-year associates is $180,000.^[5]

The firm has 16 offices^[6] in major energy, financial, and political centers worldwide, including Austin, Beijing, Dallas, Dubai, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Moscow, New York City, Palo Alto, Richmond, Riyadh, San Francisco, Taipei, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C. The firm is currently led by Mark Kelly as Chairman and Scott Wulfe as Managing Partner.

Profile[edit | edit source]

Founding[edit | edit source]

The firm was founded in Houston, Texas, in 1917 by Judge James A. Elkins and William A. Vinson.^[7][8][9]

Specialties[edit | edit source]

The firm is known for its energy industry experience,^[10] with more than 400 lawyers involved in energy-related legal work. The firm is recognized as “The World’s Leading Energy Law Firm” by Euromoney Magazine 2010 - 2011. In 2011, Chambers & Partners recognized V&E in Projects & Energy: Oil & Gas: Global-wide.^[11]

The focus is not surprising given the birth of the modern petroleum industry took place at Spindletop in Beaumont, Texas, only 80 miles from Vinson & Elkins' initial office in Houston.

Practice areas[edit | edit source]

Vinson & Elkins has expanded from its core energy practice to many other practices including mergers and acquisitions, private equity, capital markets, infrastructure, infrastructure development, finance, international transactions, regulatory matters, professional liability, intellectual property, complex commercial litigation, restructuring and reorganization, climate change, environmental, labor and employment, tax, employee benefits and executive compensation, appellate, condemnation, and real estate.

In 2001, V&E received negative attention for its role as legal advisor to Enron, the failed Houston-based energy company. During the years following Enron's collapse, Vinson & Elkins was the subject of a number of claims, and its representation of Enron endured scrutiny by news organizations, the U.S. Congress, and federal agencies. Vinson & Elkins was voluntarily dismissed without payment in January 2007 from the last significant litigation involving the Enron collapse. The law firm agreed to pay $30 million to the failed energy company's bankruptcy estate to avoid a lawsuit claiming it aided in the company's downfall.^[12]

Within the legal profession, V&E is acknowledged for breaking down religious, racial, and gender barriers that hinder the advancement of talented lawyersTemplate:Cn. In 1942, firm co-founder Vinson sued the State of Texas to obtain more just representation on juries, and the firm continues to make strides toward improving diversity in the legal profession. In 2009, the firm was again named a Community of Respect by the Anti-Defamation League, a designation V&E has maintained since the program’s inception in 2006, and is also the two-time recipient of the Thomas L. Sager Award for the South/Southwest Region by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association for the firm's sustained commitment to diversity.^[13] In 2009, for the second year in a row, Working Mother Magazine and Flex-Time Lawyers named Vinson & Elkins one of the "Best Law Firms for Women," citing the firm’s continued focus on work-life and women-friendly policies.^[14] In 2009, the City of Houston’s Flexible Workplace Initiative Program honored Vinson & Elkins for the second consecutive year with the Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility.^[15] Additionally, in 2009, the Human Rights Campaign awarded V&E a perfect score, for the second year in a row, on the HRC's 2010 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), which rates businesses on a scale from 0 to 100 percent based on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) workplace policies and benefits.^[16]

Community involvement[edit | edit source]

Outside of the legal arena, Vinson & Elkins has also been recognizedTemplate:By whom for its community involvement and support of the arts. V&E has been the only law firm to be named to The BCA Ten, sponsored by the Business Committee for the Arts, Inc. and Forbes magazine, a list of the top 10 business patrons of the arts in the U.S., and has been so named twice. The firm has maintained a long-standing pro bono relationship with The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Houston Ballet, and Houston Grand Opera, and supports numerous other arts, civic, and charitable organizations in communities where V&E has offices.

International[edit | edit source]

V&E has an active practice in China advising Chinese companies on energy-related mergers and acquisitions. In 2013, V&E announced plans to close its Shanghai office and concentrate the China practice in Beijing and Hong Kong.^[17]

Managing partners[edit | edit source]

• Mark Kelly and Scott Wulfe (2012–present)
• Joseph C. Dilg (2002–2011)
• Harry M. Reasoner (1992–2001)
• J. Evans Attwell (1981–91)
• A. Frank Smith, Jr. (1971–81)
• Lewis White (1962–71)
• Raybourne Thompson, Sr. (1959–62)
• Robert A. Shepherd, Sr. (1952–59)
• Warren Dale (office manager 1947-52)
• James A. Elkins (1929–47)

Notable alumni[edit | edit source]

• J. Evans Attwell, former V&E managing partner; Chair, Harris County Hospital District; and partial owner, Houston Astros (1978–1994)
• Howard H. Baker Jr., former U.S. Senator; White House Chief of Staff (1987–88)
• John B. Connally, Jr., Presidential candidate (1980); Secretary of the Treasury (1971–72); Governor of Texas (1962–69); and Secretary of the Navy (1961–62)
• John "Buck" E. Chapoton, Sr., Assistant Secretary, U.S. Treasury Department (1981–84)
• Carol E. Dinkins, Deputy Attorney General of Department of Justice (1984–85); Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Environment and Natural Resources Division for Department of Justice (1981–83)
• James A. Elkins, Co-Founder, Vinson & Elkins LLP; Founder, First City Bank
• Alberto Gonzales, U.S. Attorney General (2005–07); White House Counsel (2001–05); Texas State Supreme Court (1999–2001); State Secretary of State Texas (1997–99); General Counsel to Governor George W. Bush (1995–97)
• James J. Hoecker, Chairman, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) (1997–2001)
• Theodore “Ted” W. Kassinger, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce (2004-); General Counsel, U.S. Department of Commerce (2001–04)
• Ron Kirk, Mayor of Dallas, Texas (1995–2001); U.S. Trade Representative (2009-)
• George Peddy, attorney with Vinson & Elkins (1925-1942); Texas politician
• Claude Pollard, Co-Founder Vinson, Elkins, Wood and Pollard, Attorney General of Texas (1927–1929)
• Harry Reasoner, Managing Partner (1992–2001)
• Jeff Smisek, former chairman, president and CEO, Continental Airlines
• Mark Tuohey, candidate for Attorney General of the District of Columbia
• William A. Vinson, Co-Founder, Vinson & Elkins LLP
• Max Holmes, Founder, Plainfield Asset Management LLC

Professional rankings[edit | edit source]

• Chambers Global
• Chambers USA
• The Best Lawyers in America
• Who's Who
• Legal 500
• AmLaw 100
• National Law Journal 250
• The Lawyer Global 100
• The American Lawyer Corporate Scorecard
• Project Finance Deals of the Year
• Global Arbitration Review 30
• Euromoney
• Corporate Counsel's "Defending and Protecting"
• BTI "Masters of the Deal"
• Best of the Best USA

References[edit | edit source]

External links[edit | edit source]

Template:Portal

• Vinson and Elkins official website
• Yahoo! - Vinson & Elkins LLP Company Profile
• NALP Legal Employer Profile
• Referenceforbusiness.com
• Chambers & Partners USA and the Chambers Student Guide
• The Handbook of Texas Online
• Vinson & Elkins settles with Enron for $30 million