December 9, 2010
Latham & Watkins LLP1 is pleased to announce that Natalie McFarland has joined the firm’s Houston office as counsel in the Finance Department. McFarland’s practice focuses on energy sector financial transactions and commercial lending involving oil and gas exploration and production companies, oilfield service firms, and storage and pipeline companies, as well as renewable energy projects.
McFarland has particular acumen in complex finance transactions representing a broad range of financial institutions including commercial banks, private equity and hedge funds, and other corporate borrowers and investors. Her experience includes a variety of secured and unsecured syndicated lending transactions, acquisition financings, project financings, and senior and subordinate lending transactions.
With the addition of McFarland, Latham’s office in Houston now houses more than 30 attorneys, reflecting its rapid growth since the office was launched less than a year ago with eight founding partners.
Michael Dillard, Office Managing Partner of Latham & Watkins in Houston, said: “As we continue to build a preeminent global energy practice, Natalie and her finance colleagues will provide vital capabilities on sophisticated financing work that appeal to our existing clients and which will help attract additional work.”
Craig Kornreich, Chair of the firm’s Finance Department in Houston, added: “Natalie is an experienced and creative attorney who brings deep industry knowledge in the energy space to our team. She enjoys solid relationships in the oil and gas sector and among the financial institutions active in financing major initiatives, which will add great value to our client service.”
“Latham & Watkins has made a positive and impressive entrance into the Houston market, and I am enthused about joining the firm at this exciting time in the local and global growth of the firm’s energy practice,” said McFarland.
McFarland joins from the Houston office of Vinson & Elkins LLP. She received her JD from University of Georgia Law School in 2001, attaining bar status in Texas that year, and she graduated with a BS from Louisiana State University in 1998.
About Latham & Watkins
Latham & Watkins is a global law firm with approximately 2,000 attorneys in 30 offices, including Abu Dhabi, Barcelona, Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Munich, New Jersey, New York, Orange County, Paris, Riyadh, Rome, San Diego, San Francisco, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. For more information on Latham & Watkins, please visit the Web site at www.lw.com.
Notes to Editor
1 Latham & Watkins operates as a limited liability partnership worldwide with affiliated limited liability partnerships conducting the practice in the United Kingdom, France and Italy and affiliated partnerships conducting the practice in Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore. Latham & Watkins practices in Saudi Arabia in association with the Law Office of Mohammed Al-Sheikh.
Contacts
Michael Dillard, Office Managing Partner, +1.713.546.7414
Craig Kornreich, Local Chair of the Finance Department, +1.713.546.7489