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Michael is the Head of Vinson & Elkins’ Litigation Department. He is Vice Chair of the firm and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. Michael is a trial lawyer who focuses his practice on business litigation. He is a seasoned trial lawyer with particular experience in securities and corporate governance matters, including fiduciary duty cases, litigation arising from M&A transactions, securities class actions, corporate governance matter and alternative entity litigation, among other areas. He has appeared as lead counsel in numerous cases pending in federal and state courts around the country, including the Delaware Court of Chancery, as well as arbitral tribunals. Michael got his first taste for being a lead trial lawyer in a Justice of the Peace Court in Atlanta, Texas shortly after joining the firm in 1997. Since then, he has litigated and tried several significant cases, including some of the largest, most high-profile cases. As examples: In 2009, Michael was on the trial team that a won a judgment ordering Hexion to close its merger with Huntsman. In 2016, Michael led a trial team that won a judgment allowing Energy Transfer to terminate its transaction with The Williams Companies, and in 2019 he led a trial team that won a take-nothing judgment for a publicly-traded company against a $1.6 billion entire fairness claim. Michael has earned the praise and respect of trial lawyers on both sides of the bar. “As trial lawyers, we accept that we will win some and we will lose some. Of course winning is always better. And I have to tip my hat to Michael, since he finds a way to win cases that I thought he’d surely lose.” –Lawdragon, 2021 (Former Adversary Quote) “Michael Holmes is a rock star with a good strategic mind and who often handles matters in Delaware.” –Legal 500 US, 2019 (Market Commentary)

Jim is a trial attorney with more than 35 years of experience counseling clients with wide-ranging business litigation needs. His practice encompasses lawsuits, appeals, and domestic and international arbitrations across multiple industries.

Thomas is the Managing Partner of the Austin office and has an extensive corporate practice, advising on capital markets transactions, including initial public offerings and other equity and debt offerings, and merger and acquisition transactions.

Jim is a Vice Chair of the firm and a member of the firm’s Management Committee.

Hilary currently serves as a Vice Chair of the firm and a member of the Management Committee. Hilary additionally serves as Co-Chair of V&E’s Women’s Initiative. Hilary focuses her litigation practice on intellectual property litigation and commercial disputes. She has represented clients in these types of lawsuits in trial and appellate courts across the country and regularly “provides strong practical advice and offers creative solutions” for clients (Chambers USA 2016). Hilary also has substantial experience counseling clients in risk management surrounding technology development, particularly in the sports, digital media, mobile content delivery, and e-commerce industries. In particular, she is noted as having “excellent communication skills and knowledge of the digital technology and telecommunications arenas” and has been called “a trusted advisor” with “excellent judgment” (Chambers USA 2016). Hilary has been recognized for her work in Chambers USA since 2014 and in New York Super Lawyers since 2013.

Keith Fullenweider is Chair of the firm and a member of the firm’s Management Committee.

Michael P. Joyce’s practice focuses on energy and infrastructure finance. Michael has represented clients in numerous cutting-edge transactions in the energy and infrastructure field, with a particular emphasis on renewable energy sectors such as solar, wind, and storage. He also has considerable experience with geothermal, biomass, coal, gas-fired, and nuclear projects, as well as with joint ventures and the disposition and acquisition of energy and infrastructure assets. Michael is ranked by Chambers Global and Chambers USA in Projects: Renewables and Alternative Energy. Prior to joining the firm, Michael was a partner in the Los Angeles office of an AmLaw 50 Firm. Michael is Co-Practice Group Leader of V&E’s Finance practice group.

Sean focuses on asset finance, with an emphasis on financing, acquiring, and disposing of renewable energy, zero carbon, and infrastructure assets. Instrumental in creating the structure that has become the standard for renewable energy deals in the United States, Sean has handled many of the country’s largest and most complex renewable energy financing transactions, including numerous first-of-its-kind deals. In the course of his practice, Sean represents Fortune 50 companies, tax equity investors, private equity funds, sponsors, developers, lenders, and borrowers. His clients include some of the largest investors in the renewable energy market, collectively investing billions of dollars in renewable energy generation. His projects include wind; solar; battery storage; hydrogen; geothermal; biomass, renewable natural gas (RNG), sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and other renewable fuels; carbon capture and sequestration; electric vehicles; and manufacturing and mining. His experience includes tax equity, tax credit finance and sales, M&A and joint ventures, reorganizations and bankruptcy, project finance, and structured finance. Sean has worked with dozens of clients and stakeholders to develop and execute on structures utilizing monetization opportunities available through the Inflation Reduction Act.

Evan represents clients in antitrust matters, with an emphasis on government investigations, the review of mergers by antitrust enforcement agencies, Hart-Scott-Rodino filings, and civil litigation. Evan has handled multiple complex merger investigations and has represented clients as third-party witnesses to merger challenges in federal and administrative court. Evan also actively counsels clients on issues relating to antitrust law, including competitor collaborations, information sharing, and marketing practices, among other commercial activities. In the merger context, Evan regularly advises clients regarding antitrust risk during deal negotiations and rules against “gun jumping.” Evan’s subject-matter experience includes some of the most hot-button current antitrust topics—including digital platforms and two sided markets, ESG and sustainability, and energy transitions—in the United States and worldwide. Evan also focuses his practice on the application of antitrust principles to emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and blockchain.

Nick is a Leading Individual in the Legal 500 UK 2024 Construction rankings and is ranked in Band 1 for International Arbitration, Construction, in Chambers 2024. He has been described by Chambers UK as “one of the most important construction lawyers in the world” and “a truly exceptional and very determined lawyer” who “you underestimate at your peril”.  Nick has also previously been described in Chambers as “widely regarded as a market leader in international construction arbitration”, a “construction law heavyweight”, and a “brilliant strategist”.

Nabeel serves as Head of International Disputes – MENA. He is ranked as a leading lawyer for both construction and dispute resolution by The Legal 500, Chambers Global and Who’s Who Legal, and has over two decades of experience advising clients on construction and commercial disputes.

Mark joined Vinson & Elkins in August 2020 providing an extensive background in Information Technology Executive Management and Security spanning over 3 decades. He leads a dynamic team of Information Security professionals focused on the multi-layered secure operations of the law firm’s information systems plus the firm’s security compliance with client requirements and regulatory authorities. Mark’s team also provides extensive security education and has continued to maintain the firm’s security certifications relevant to ensuring comprehensive protections, policies, and procedures within the environment.