Vinson & Elkins

Vinson & Elkins has a longstanding tradition as one of the world's premier law firms. As the firm approaches its 100-year anniversary, it remains at the top of its game, with offices in 15 cities spread from Houston to Hong Kong. Its energy law practice is consistently ranked as a leader among many industry giants.

The practice saw its start in Houston more than 90 years ago. Today, the firm's global reach extends to most significant energy hubs, political capitals, and financial centers. Its 400-plus attorneys help clients navigate the challenging environment – whether those clients are within the industry themselves or outside with energy-related concerns. They bring a high level of understanding to their work, demonstrating not only a solid handle of the legal issues but also an impressive knowledge of the technical, political, and business concerns often tied to the issues.

Vinson & Elkins attorneys are often called upon by notable clients when billions of dollars are at stake. A seven-person team represented Devon Energy in an $8.84 billion contribution of its midstream US business to Crosstex Energy. This deal consolidated the midstream business, controlled by Devon. Another large team advised Energy XXI in its acquisition of all shares of EPL Oil & Gas. The $2.3 billion transaction resulted in the largest publically traded independent oil and gas producer on the Gulf of Mexico shelf, which produces approximately 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, 70 percent oil.

Houston-based Mark Kelly was one of the partners leading the charge in the Energy XXI affair. Professionally, his primary focus concerns mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, public financings, and private placements. In the past two years alone, he has helped clients with transactions amounting to more than $6 billion. The chairman of the firm, he serves on the management committee and, naturally, has held many other leadership positions over his years with Vinson & Elkins.

Of course, several attorneys in the Houston office deserve recognition for their remarkable talent, dedication to the legal profession, and career success. Trina Hill Chandler is recognized for her dynamic influence within the corporate department. Her practice involves domestic and international mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, project finance and development, corporate finance, hedging transactions, and partnership and LLC formations. She is co-head of the firm's energy industry group, serves on the management committee, and assists major energy and utility companies, financial institutions, private equity firms, and insurance companies with issues related to power and marketing and trading, among others as they arise. In a transaction valued at a staggering $9.5 billion, Chandler leads a team representing Riverstone Holdings. The client is involved in an agreement with PPL Corporation to combine its merchant power generation businesses into a new, stand-alone, publicly traded independent power producer (IPP) called Talen Energy. This would be the US's third-largest investor-owned IPP.

Douglas Bland has more than 25 years of experience with domestic and international business transactions. His robust practice primarily concerns energy, project finance and development, and mergers and acquisitions and encompasses a variety of matters within the upstream, midstream, downstream, and clean energy sectors. His clients have included Copano Energy, Huntsman International, and Sundrop Fuels, among several others.