Amid Haynes Boone’s rapid expansion outside of Texas, London Office Co-Managing Partner Nick Davis sat down with The Texas Lawbook to discuss. the firm’s growth in London, cross-border transactions and the opportunities he sees for clients in the transatlantic markets.
Read an excerpt below.
Haynes Boone’s lateral partner activity in 2025 has been a case in point that no corporate law firm headquartered in Texas is expanding faster outside the state.
The firm accelerated this growth in February by adding seven-lawyer groups in New York and London each.
Of the Dallas-based firm’s 20 partner adds this year, 12 have been in New York, now the firm’s second-largest office. Five partners have joined the London outpost, which claims the firm’s fourth-highest headcount.
Just last week, Haynes Boone announced ex-federal prosecutor Richard Weber, a former Chief of the Criminal Investigation Division at the IRS, joined the firm in New York as the chair of its Financial Services Investigations and Enforcement practice group.
Thirty-six percent of Haynes Boone’s $635.8 million in revenue in 2024 was generated outside of Texas, according to Texas Lawbook 50 research.
The Lawbook met with Nick Davis, one of those 2025 London recruits, earlier this summer. Davis, a capital markets lawyer who is on the London Stock Exchange AIM advisory group, serves as co-head of the office. He has advised on a slew of deals since joining Haynes Boone, including a cross-border energy transaction that resulted in establishing a Texas entity to efficiently transact with a London-listed company.
Davis talked Texas, the firm’s growth in London (55 lawyers and counting, with aspirations for 100-plus), IPOs and pints in this Q&A.
Texas Lawbook: First, help us Texans get to know you. You’re a true Londoner. Where did you grow up?
Nick Davis: I’m one of the few true Londoners that seem to still be around. I was born in the hospital in Paddington and I grew up in a small town at the end of the Jubilee line in London, called Stanmore.
Texas Lawbook: When you were looking to move earlier this year, what attracted you to Haynes Boone? What had been your experience with the firm up until then?
Davis: I knew about Haynes Boone all the way back in the mid-2000s. I was doing an IPO for an oil and gas company with assets in the United States and Haynes Boone actually helped me with title opinions way back then. I’ve stayed familiar with the firm. When the opportunity came, I looked at the profile that the firm has in the U.S. — particularly the capital markets teams in both New York and Dallas — and thought that there was a real opportunity to build out something exciting in London.
Texas Lawbook: Was it meaningful in any way that Haynes Boone was based in Texas?
Davis: The epicenter of the world seems to be heading towards Texas right now. I think everybody’s aware of how the center of gravity in the U.S. is gravitating towards Texas given it’s the 8th largest economy in the world. In addition to their capabilities in Dallas, I was also aware of the firm’s experience in Houston and the oil and gas space, which complements what I do. Culturally, the people in Texas that I connected with at Haynes Boone were extraordinarily friendly and welcoming, but still professional and serious at the same time.
Texas Lawbook: Prior to your visit with the executive committee in Dallas, when was the last time you were in Texas? What stood out from your visit this year?
Davis: My last visit to Texas was a keg house in Austin in 1989. My best buddy from high school was a South African and he couldn’t deal with the weather in London. As soon as he graduated, he headed out to university in Austin. In that summer of travels, I visited him in Austin and enjoyed all of the benefits of being a student back in the day in Austin.
The thing that stood out the most from my visit this year was the speed with which Dallas seems to be growing. There is a large amount of construction going on. Looking out the window of our office and seeing that Goldman Sachs is building an office for 5,000 people steps away – there is an energy. It’s a really exciting place to be right now.
Texas Lawbook: In our conversation earlier this summer, you mentioned being impressed by Haynes Boone’s vision for London. What resonated with you?
Davis: I think the ambition to grow the office was the most impressive aspect. Our London office is full of very high-quality lawyers. As you know, the firm started its life in London with a shipping litigation firm and has built out further sections as time has gone on. Having watched the exponential growth of the firm in New York and seeing a similar market in London, I thought that the opportunity to be part of that growth and strategy was hugely exciting.
Texas Lawbook: When we met, you had interviews for open positions. I believe 500 applicants for only a few jobs?
Davis: In the UK, to qualify as a lawyer, you have to be something called a trainee solicitor. You do two years’ worth of work experience. We advertised three positions and we had nearly 500 applications. We’re just finishing up those interviews now. The resumes of attorneys coming in are unbelievably high quality. I think it tells you there is a resonance in the market of what Haynes Boone stands for and the student population seems to understand the opportunity.
Texas Lawbook: You’ve hit the ground running since joining Haynes Boone, advising on at least 10 deals, yes?
Davis: Since we arrived, it’s been fantastic timing. Life is all about timing. I think we’re up to around 20 deals now across capital markets, M&A and private equity. The real bonus for our team is having access to the U.S. capital markets experience. Unsurprisingly, there’s a U.S. element to most deals. The ability to deal with those in-house is hugely helpful. We have a number of clients with onshore U.S. assets in the mining space and in the oil and gas space, so it’s been great to work with them on those.
To read the full feature from The Texas Lawbook, click here.
