The Billion-Dollar Texas Lawyers
Kirkland & Ellis topped The Texas Lawbook’s Corporate Deal Tracker 2025 “$1 Billion-Plus” rankings by both deal count and value. Of the 135 attorneys in Texas credited with leading or co-leading billion-dollar deals for buyers, sellers or targets, 38 Kirkland lawyers were ranked, including nine in the top 10 by deal count and eight in the top 10 by deal value.
Brittany Sakowitz ranked No. 1 by deal count, with six $1 billion+ transactions with a combined value of $57.9 billion.
Andy Calder sat atop the leaderboard by value, advising on four $1 billion+ deals with a combined value of $78 billion. Notably, according to CDT data, Calder also held this ranking a decade ago in 2016.
Kirkland rankings for $1 billion+ deals by count
|
Rank |
Lawyer |
Count |
Value ($M) |
|
1 |
Brittany Sakowitz |
6 |
57,922 |
|
2 |
Kim Hicks |
5 |
77,234 |
|
3 |
Melissa Kalka |
5 |
58,100 |
|
5 |
John Pitts |
5 |
21,822 |
|
6 |
Andrew Calder |
4 |
78,000 |
|
7 |
Doug Bacon |
4 |
43,600 |
|
8 |
Rhett Van Syoc |
4 |
40,500 |
|
9 |
Debbie Yee |
4 |
9,425 |
|
10 |
Will Eiland |
4 |
5,830 |
|
11 |
Rob Goodin |
3 |
37,921 |
|
16 |
Sean Wheeler |
3 |
7,225 |
|
21 |
Chad Smith |
3 |
4,530 |
|
23 |
Allan Kirk |
2 |
23,200 |
|
26 |
Kyle Watson |
2 |
8,100 |
|
42 |
Thomas Laughlin |
2 |
3,100 |
|
48 |
Daniel Cadis |
2 |
2,421 |
|
49 |
Ahmed Sidik |
2 |
2,000 |
|
50 |
Adam Larson |
1 |
27,000 |
|
52 |
Kevin Crews |
1 |
22,200 |
|
54 |
Cyril Jones |
1 |
9,700 |
|
59 |
Chandler Spinks |
1 |
6,000 |
|
67 |
Ben Hardison |
1 |
4,250 |
|
69 |
Roald Nashi |
1 |
4,000 |
|
70 |
David Castro, Jr. |
1 |
3,900 |
|
71 |
Lindsey Jaquillard |
1 |
3,900 |
|
72 |
Bill Benitez |
1 |
3,800 |
|
73 |
Jack Shirley |
1 |
3,800 |
|
82 |
Jeffrey Siwik |
1 |
2,300 |
|
83 |
Patrick Moneypenny |
1 |
2,200 |
|
87 |
Matt Nadworny |
1 |
2,000 |
|
88 |
Stephen Noh |
1 |
2,000 |
|
93 |
R.J. Malenfant |
1 |
1,800 |
|
102 |
Albert Jou |
1 |
1,500 |
|
122 |
Michael Marek |
1 |
1,300 |
|
131 |
Michael Bassi |
1 |
1,000 |
Kirkland rankings for $1 billion+ deals by value
|
Rank |
Lawyer |
Count |
Value ($M) |
|
1 |
Andrew Calder |
4 |
78,000 |
|
2 |
Kim Hicks |
5 |
77,234 |
|
3 |
Melissa Kalka |
5 |
58,100 |
|
4 |
Brittany Sakowitz |
6 |
57,922 |
|
5 |
Doug Bacon |
4 |
43,600 |
|
7 |
Rhett Van Syoc |
4 |
40,500 |
|
8 |
Rob Goodin |
3 |
37,921 |
|
10 |
Adam Larson |
1 |
27,000 |
|
12 |
Allan Kirk |
2 |
23,200 |
|
14 |
Kevin Crews |
1 |
22,200 |
|
15 |
John Pitts |
5 |
21,822 |
|
20 |
Cyril Jones |
1 |
9,700 |
|
21 |
Debbie Yee |
4 |
9,425 |
|
23 |
Kyle Watson |
2 |
8,100 |
|
28 |
Sean Wheeler |
3 |
7,225 |
|
31 |
Chris Heasley |
3 |
6,900 |
|
36 |
Joshua Teahen |
2 |
6,250 |
|
38 |
Chandler Spinks |
1 |
6,000 |
|
41 |
Will Eiland |
4 |
5,830 |
|
52 |
Chad Smith |
3 |
4,530 |
|
53 |
Ben Hardison |
1 |
4,250 |
|
58 |
Jarrod Gamble |
1 |
4,100 |
|
59 |
Roald Nashi |
1 |
4,000 |
|
60 |
David Castro, Jr. |
1 |
3,900 |
|
61 |
Lindsey Jaquillard |
1 |
3,900 |
|
62 |
Bill Benitez |
1 |
3,800 |
|
63 |
Jack Shirley |
1 |
3,800 |
|
69 |
Thomas Laughlin |
2 |
3,100 |
|
78 |
Daniel Cadis |
2 |
2,421 |
|
81 |
Jeffrey Siwik |
1 |
2,300 |
|
82 |
Patrick Moneypenny |
1 |
2,200 |
|
84 |
Ahmed Sidik |
2 |
2,000 |
|
87 |
Matt Nadworny |
1 |
2,000 |
|
88 |
Stephen Noh |
1 |
2,000 |
|
93 |
R.J. Malenfant |
1 |
1,800 |
|
102 |
Albert Jou |
1 |
1,500 |
|
122 |
Michael Marek |
1 |
1,300 |
|
131 |
Michael Bassi |
1 |
1,000 |
