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rowth in the United States – it’s essential to our strategy as we look to build on our strength in the biggest legal market in the world.

But it isn’t growth for growth’s sake, with the opening of our Houston office in February 2018 a perfect example of our strategic approach.

Houston Office Executive Partner Jay Cuclis explains: “If you want to be seen as a key player in the U.S. oil and gas market, it’s incredibly important to be in Houston, which is generally considered to be the world’s energy capital.

“I believe that the Firm has been researching opening an office here since the 1980s, but only in recent years decided that the timing was right.

“White & Case is widely considered to be one of the best firms in the world when it comes to oil and gas, so having an office in Houston really completes the picture and significantly expands the scope of the Firm’s energy practice in the United States.”

Jay had been working for Houston law firm Vinson & Elkins for 37 years before the Firm offered him the opportunity to lead our Houston office.

He says: “I had no intention of leaving my previous firm, but White & Case made a compelling argument. Everything that’s happened since has exceeded my expectations and it’s been a privilege for me to help launch the Firm’s office in Houston.

“It’s been extremely busy, but also very exciting, and we’re looking forward to the future continued development and expansion of the Firm’s practice in Houston.”

Rapid growth

The office has already grown rapidly from a starting point of four people in February to a team of roughly 25 lawyers (including nine partners) by October.

Jay says: “The growth has been fast, but the most impressive thing is the quality and breadth of the team we’ve assembled in Houston, as well as the fact that we’ve been able to achieve relatively high utilization rates in our first year of operation. And, we are still looking for more key lawyers to join the Houston office, so we’re not finished yet.”

The office has expertise in several practice areas and has already established a strong client base.

Jay explains: “A number of our clients in the Houston office followed our lawyers from their previous firms, but we’ve also been successful, thanks to introductions from other Firm partners, in securing major engagements from several institutional White & Case clients.

“In addition, we’ve been hired by a number of new clients to the Firm.

“In general, we’re doing a mixture of work for foreign and domestic clients wanting to invest in the United States energy sector, as well as for U.S. companies pursuing energy transactions overseas.

“What makes our offering so compelling is the Firm’s excellent global reputation in the energy industry, coupled with its unrivalled worldwide network.

“We’re already doing a lot of work alongside our colleagues in other offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Australia.”

Looking ahead, Jay has high hopes for the future. He says: “Houston is an incredibly competitive market for legal services.

“Many major law firms aspire to have a thriving office here, but the big advantage we have is that many of our competitors come to Houston to establish an oil and gas practice. We have an unrivalled oil and gas practice already, so this just completes the picture.

“We feel that the Firm’s establishment of the office in Houston is already reaping rewards and has helped the Firm win a couple of major pieces of work where our presence in Houston gave us an important edge.

“Our ultimate goal is to continue to expand the scope and nature of our practice here and to be completely integrated into the Firm’s global network.

“We believe we are already making significant strides in this direction and very much appreciate all the support the Houston office has received from across the Firm.”

Perfect timing

While Houston was particularly attractive for the Firm due to its strategic importance in the oil and gas industry, our decision to open in Chicago last summer also made perfect sense, but for different reasons.

Office Executive Partner Jason Zakia explains: “As with Houston, I know the Firm had been considering Chicago for a while and it was clear that the timing was right.”

While opening in Chicago does fill a geographical gap for the Firm and gives us an important presence in the mid-west, which is a massive market, those aren’t the only attractions.

Jason says: “Our U.S. growth strategy has never been about growth for growth’s sake and one huge draw for us was the wealth of talent we identified in the area. Having an office here means we can recruit top quality people who we otherwise might have missed out on – people who are a brilliant fit with the Firm.”

Jason moved from Miami to Chicago to open the new office in June. The initial team included three lawyers, but has rapidly expanded to more than 25 people, thanks in part to the recruitment of 13 real estate lawyers from boutique law firm Pircher, Nichols & Meeks.

“This is a textbook example of a perfect fit for the Firm,” says Jason. “Not only are these exceptional people, but they strengthen us in a practice area that will benefit this office and the wider network.

“They bring us invaluable subject matter expertise and will plug into the Firm extremely quickly.”

Partner Eugene Leone, who joined from Pircher, Nichols & Meeks, says: “The reason White & Case attracted us in the first place sums up what sets the Firm apart from many rivals. While there was nothing our previous firm couldn’t do in terms of real estate, we did not have the complementary practice areas to support the needs of our clients.

“Then along came White & Case seeking to add a real estate practice in Chicago, who could offer all that, plus an unrivalled cross-border network that’s so vital in the current investment market. It was a perfect example of 1+1=3.”

Strategic recruitment

The recruitment of the Pircher, Nichols & Meeks team complements several other impressive hires, meaning the Chicago office now boasts strong real estate, M&A, and litigation expertise, but we haven’t stopped there.

Jason says: “We’ve got plans to continue growing and to have 100-plus lawyers by 2020 but, as we’ve done so far, we’ll be recruiting strategically as and when opportunities arise that strengthen our team in the right areas and with the right people.

“The ultimate goal is to have a fully built-out office in every practice area that is completely integrated with the global network. To pave the way for this growth, we’ll be moving into a permanent office shortly.”

Partner Gary Silverman, who joined the M&A Group in Chicago, comments: “I was particularly attracted to the global brand that White & Case has built over the course of more than a century.

“We have a reputation for top-to-bottom excellence across all major disciplines, which is extremely important to our private equity clients, as well as for prospective clients.

“Since opening the office, we’ve also had the pleasure of handling significant inbound transactional work for White & Case offices around the world. We’re ambitious about growing the office and continuing to add terrific professionals at all levels.”

Though it’s clearly early days, the office has got off to a good start, carrying out work for existing clients, new clients and many clients who our lateral hires brought across from their previous firms.

Jason says: “We’re already building relationships with other offices in the network and, for example, the Milan office contacted us when one of their clients had a dispute in Chicago.

“Chicago is a very competitive and vibrant market, but we’ve already established a critical mass that most firms in the city have taken decades to achieve. Our reputation as a truly global firm is also a critical differentiator.

“Growing in the United States is a vital part of the Firm’s 2020 strategy and it’s exciting to be part of that.”