Sidley Austin Expands in Houston

Houston — Sidley Austin LLP announced today that Robert G. Stephens has joined the firm’s Houston office as a partner in the Global Finance and Energy practices. He will have a leadership role in the Finance practice in Houston. Mr. Stephens is a highly regarded finance and energy lawyer whose practice is principally focused on structured energy transactions, including secured financings and derivatives transactions and energy asset acquisitions.

Mr. Stephens regularly represents financial institutions and energy companies in a wide range of energy-related financings and other transactions, including providing structured products such as credit sleeves, credit guaranties and securitizations. He has significant experience counseling clients in project development and financing, with particular focus on the use of secured commodity hedging arrangements in support of those transactions. Mr. Stephens also has experience handling M&A transactions involving energy commodity trading companies, power generation facilities and other energy assets. Many of the transactions Mr. Stephens has handled have involved secured credit and bankruptcy planning structures, and he is experienced in handling corporate restructurings and reorganizations.

“We are delighted to welcome Robert to our talented team of energy and finance lawyers in Houston,” said Jim Rice, co-managing partner of Sidley’s Houston office and co-leader of the firm’s Energy practice. “Robert’s arrival follows closely that of Energy and Private Equity partners David B. Denechaud and Joe F. Flack III, as we continue to expand our resources dedicated to energy transactions and financing. Robert’s broad and deep energy financing knowledge will greatly benefit the firm’s institutional finance, investment fund and operating company clients as they navigate the challenges of the current oil price environment.”

“Adding Robert to our team enhances our powerful capabilities in energy and project finance,” said Irving Rotter, co-leader of the firm’s Energy practice. “Robert has an exceptional skill set in finance and structured products. Working together with our other highly knowledgeable and experienced energy lawyers will enable us to expand the scope of services we offer to our global energy clients.”

Mr. Stephens is ranked in Nationwide Energy: Oil & Gas (Transactional) in Chambers USA 2014 and Chambers Global.

Sidley opened its Houston office in 2012, and continues to grow its finance practice and offers an exceptional depth of talented and experienced lawyers. Since opening, the office has grown around its group of founding partners to 34 lawyers.

With 1,900 lawyers in 18 offices worldwide, Sidley has built a reputation as a premier legal adviser for global businesses and financial institutions. For the fifth consecutive year, and every year since the survey’s inception, Sidley received the most first-tier national rankings in the 2015 U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” survey. On Law360’s list of Global 20 Firms, Sidley was ranked among the top law firms “with the greatest global reach and expertise.” To stay up-to-date with the latest Sidley news, please follow us on Twitter at @SidleyNewsroom or download the Sidley Mobile App.