Finance lawyer Neal Bakare, who has worked in-house at Macquarie Bank Ltd for seven years, has returned to private practice, joining Foley Gardere in Houston.
He joined the firm as counsel in the finance practice group and is also part of the energy industry team. Bakare, who was senior vice president of legal risk management at Australia-based Macquarie Bank and was an associate with Vinson & Elkins before that, has done work for investment banks, private equity funds, limited partnerships, public and private companies, hedge providers, and oil and gas companies.
Michael Rogers, managing partner of Foley Gardere’s Houston office, said in a statement that Bakare’s experience representing clients in the finance and energy industries is a good fit for the office because of the volume of activity in the energy and financial sectors in Texas.
“Neal’s experience as an in-house attorney, paired with his knowledge of the Houston market and beyond, will provide tremendous value to our clients locally and nationally,” Rogers said.
Bakare said he realized while working in-house that he missed a lot about private practice, including the support resources a big firm provides lawyers and the opportunity to make money. But, mostly, he missed the client interaction.
“I like people. I like catching up with them. I like trying to figure out how to help them, what their needs are … I like having coffee with people, having lunches, texting, emailing,” Bakare said.
In early May, he decided to look for a position at a firm in Houston, where the lateral hiring market has seen a lot of activity. By late May, he had accepted the offer from Foley Gardere. He started work there this month.
Foley Gardere was created in April when Dallas-based Gardere Wynne Sewell merged with Foley & Lardner of Milwaukee. It is known as Foley Gardere in Texas and Denver, as Foley Gardere Arena in Mexico City, and Foley & Lardner elsewhere.
Bakare knew lawyers on both side of that merger. He said that while he was at Macquarie Bank he hired Foley & Lardner lawyers for a transaction and was “blown away by their speed and acumen and their cost-effectiveness.” He also was impressed with a team of Gardere Wynne lawyers he met when they worked on the opposite sides of a transaction.
“When I saw the Foley-Gardere merger, a matching of two skill sets, I wanted to come here. My goal is to build a book of business here,” he said.
Macquarie Bank declined to comment on Bakare’s departure.
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