Hunton & Williams and Andrews Kurth Kenyon announce merger

Hunton & Williams and Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP announced today February 21st that both partnerships have approved an agreement to combine.  

The joint announcement follows mounting commentary in the legal media, which peaked at the beginning of February after reports of several partner departures at Andrews Kurth in Texas. 

The merger is effective April 2 and the new firm will be called Hunton Andrews Kurth. According to the statement, the combined firm will have approximately 300 lawyers in four Texas offices, more than 200 in Richmond and over 150 lawyers in each of New York and Washington, DC. Globally, the firm will be home to over 1000 lawyers in 15 offices in the US and five international locations 

As reported in The Latin American Lawyer, neither law firm has offices in Spain or Latin America but both handle a significant amount of deals in the Iberian – American markets.  The firms have overlapping offices in Austin, Beijing, Dallas, Houston, London, New York and Washington, DC.

Wally Martinez, current managing partner of Hunton & Williams, will serve as managing partner of the combined law firm. Andrews Kurth Kenyon managing partner Robert V. Jewell, will become managing partner emeritus.

Meanwhile, current Hunton Executive Committee Chairman George C. Howell III will remain chairman of the new firm’s executive committee. The latter will include five partners from each legacy law firm. 

In the announcement, Martinez said: “This is a merger of two great firms already aligned around complementary practices and geography. Together we strike a bolder geographic footprint in key markets and establish ourselves as a powerhouse in Texas.”