Foley & Lardner LLP’s Austin office is featured in The Texas Lawbook article, “Foley’s Austin Office Is Hub for Firm’s Government, AG Practice,” highlighting the office’s Government Solutions and State Attorneys General practice groups, its adaptability in times of change over the last five years, and its plans for continued strategic growth.
Ed Burbach, Austin office managing partner, said the office has been able to expand “slowly and intentionally and with good people who really want to go to a firm for the long haul,” after Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP combined with Foley in 2018, giving Foley a presence in Texas, Colorado, and Mexico. Burbach said he wants to continue expanding Foley’s footprint by adding lawyers in intellectual property, transactions, and real estate.
The article highlights recent client successes of the Government Solutions Practice Group and notes that “Foley is one of a growing group of law firms recognizing the power of state laws that can leave companies exposed to millions, and even billions, in fines” and “at a time when many legacy Texas firms have gotten out of lobbying, Foley is fully supportive of the practice.”
Burbach, who also chairs the Government Solutions Practice Group and co-chairs the State Attorneys General Practice Group, shared how these groups work together with others at the firm to better anticipate client needs. “If you are doing M&A deals all day long, you are not really thinking about government,” he said. “But the clients are certainly thinking about government and the regulatory hurdles that they have to meet in their everyday business, whether it be at a federal or state level.”
The article also pays tribute to former Austin managing partner and lobbyist Kim Yelkin, whose unexpected death in December 2022 was a significant loss to the office, and her continued influence at the firm. Yelkin “stacked the office with lawyers and lobbyists with deep government experience,” including Burbach, Amy Beard, Nanette Beaird, David Cabrales, Craig Chick, Robert Johnson, and John Sepehri. Her desire for Foley to “deliver ‘soup to nuts’ for a client from the state agency level to an administrative hearing and the courthouse” is still a guiding principle. “And if that did not work, our lobby folks would get the law changed. So that is full service,” said Burbach.
