AuguryLatham Bolsters Texas Energy and Infrastructure Team with High‑Profile M&A Partner
This article was written by the Augury Times
Experienced deal lawyer joins Latham’s Houston office to lead energy, infrastructure and private equity work
Latham has added a senior M&A and private equity lawyer to its Houston office, the firm announced. Christopher Heasley, a partner known for handling large, capital‑intensive energy and infrastructure transactions, is joining the firm to strengthen its Texas practice. The move gives Latham extra firepower for complex buyouts, asset sales and project financings across oil and gas, power and transportation sectors.
The hire arrives as energy and infrastructure deals in Texas have recovered some momentum. Latham framed the move as a way to deepen local client service and to win larger cross‑border and private equity mandates that require a lawyer with deep sector and capital markets experience.
What Heasley brings: sector know‑how and private equity experience
Heasley is presented as a dealmaker with a long track record in energy and infrastructure. His practice covers M&A, private equity buyouts, joint ventures and project‑level transactions — the kinds of matters that often involve big sums, complicated regulatory issues and multiple parties.
In plain terms, Heasley knows how to structure and close deals where the assets themselves are expensive to build and run — think pipelines, power plants, midstream facilities and offshore projects. That experience matters because those transactions usually need careful drafting, creative financing and an ability to coordinate lenders, investors and operating partners.
The announcement suggests Heasley will lead or play a senior role on mandates that cut across Latham’s existing strengths: corporate, capital markets, tax and regulatory teams. Clients who want one firm to handle a large, multi‑jurisdiction deal will find that combination useful, especially in Texas where energy and infrastructure remain core business areas.
Why this matters for Latham in Texas
The addition strengthens Latham’s footprint in a competitive market. Houston is home to many of the companies and investors that buy, sell and finance big energy and infrastructure assets. By bringing in an established partner focused on those sectors, Latham is signaling it wants to capture more of that work locally rather than routing it through other U.S. or international offices.
Strategically, the hire is the kind of step firms take when they expect larger, fee‑rich deals to return. It improves the firm’s pitch to private equity shops and corporate buyers that want lawyers who understand both the sector and the financing side. It also helps Latham keep pace with other global firms that have been beefing up their Houston teams.
For regional clients, the benefit is faster access to senior lawyers who can manage complex negotiations without pulling in multiple outside advisers. For rival firms, it raises the bar on the senior legal talent available in Texas.
Concrete examples that shape expectations
The firm highlighted Heasley’s past work on large energy and infrastructure transactions, including cross‑border asset sales, private equity platform deals and project structures that required multi‑tier financing. Those are the deal types that typically produce the biggest legal fees and the most visible market headlines.
Heasley’s background also includes advising both strategic buyers — companies that operate assets — and financial buyers such as private equity funds. That dual experience is important because the needs and timelines of those buyers can differ sharply. A lawyer who has handled both will be more effective shepherding a deal from negotiation to close.
Firm reaction, Heasley’s view and what to watch next
In its announcement, Latham said the hire “strengthens our ability to serve clients in the energy, infrastructure and private equity sectors in Texas and across the Americas.” The firm emphasized that adding senior, sector‑focused lawyers is part of a broader effort to win larger, cross‑border mandates.
Heasley was quoted as saying he was joining Latham to work on bigger, more integrated matters and to take advantage of the firm’s global platform. He noted that clients are looking for fewer handoffs between teams and more direct access to senior deal lawyers.
What to watch next: whether Latham follows this hire with additional senior lateral moves in Houston or other Texas markets, and whether the firm wins a string of larger private equity or cross‑border energy mandates. If it does, the move will look less like a single hire and more like the start of a strategic push to lead big-ticket energy and infrastructure work in the region.
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