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Shad Sumrow, who practiced at Thompson & Knight for more than two decades and led its firmwide finance group, is taking his practice to fellow Texas firm Baker Botts.

He joins Baker Botts as a partner in Dallas, the firm said Tuesday, touting his work on oil and gas and asset-based lending and structured finance transactions as well as restructurings. The firm noted that it added Doug Getten, the former chair of Paul Hastings’ Houston corporate department, as a partner last week.

Sumrow’s departure from Thompson & Knight comes a little more than a month after the firm and Miami-based Holland & Knight said that they were in talks to merge later this summer.

Under the deal, 1,400-lawyer Holland & Knight would keep its name and add Thompson & Knight’s 275 lawyers to its ranks, bolstering its offices in Texas. If completed, the merger would be the largest of its kind since the COVID-19 pandemic began last year.

Sumrow built his energy-centered transactional practice over the course of a 23-year career at Thompson & Knight. He declined to discuss the pending merger, instead citing Baker Botts’ draw as a “longstanding powerhouse in the energy industry.”

“It was an ideal fit for me and my clients, and it was just a very exciting time to join the firm,” he said.

Sumrow said he has also worked with Baker Botts lawyers for years and counts Luke Weedon, the partner in charge of the firm’s Dallas office and its firmwide finance section chair, as a friend.

Weedon in a statement praised Sumrow, highlighting his “market knowledge, extensive experience, deep client relationships and leadership experience.”

Mark Sloan, managing partner of Thompson & Knight, said in a statement that the firm thanks Sumrow for his contributions and wishes him well.

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