Alston & Bird has significantly expanded its Financial Services & Products Group with the addition of a highly visible five-member corporate team from Bracewell.
Based in Alston & Bird’s Dallas office, the group is led by partners Sanford “Sandy” Brown, former head of Bracewell’s Dallas financial services practice, and Michael Tankersley. They are joined by counsel Patrick Hanchey and Kristen Cunningham and associate Lauren Chase, with other associates expected to follow.
“Our new team represents a significant expansion of our corporate capabilities that are particularly important in Dallas and across the region and that complement a number of our firm’s strategic interests, including bank regulatory, M&A, securities, private equity and alternative investments,” said Alston & Bird Managing Partner Richard Hays. “These and other hires we have made recently in Dallas will be transformative in enhancing our brand and highlighting our commitment to clients in the crucial Texas market and in the Midwest region generally.”
The new partners collectively spent more than 30 years together as partners at their former firm. Among their clients are financial institutions, banks, specialty finance companies, retailers, insurers and corporations. Their recent deal work includes representing Veritex Holdings, Inc. on its $40 million IPO; advising NexBank SSB on its purchase of College Savings Bank of Princeton, NJ; and representing Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc. and its subsidiary, Texas Capital Bank N.A., in common stock and debt offerings with proceeds totaling $287 million.
“We have a wide-ranging and incredibly active financial services practice focused on providing our clients with creative solutions and anticipating their needs across a broad range of regulatory and transactional matters,” said Mark Kanaly, chair of Alston & Bird’s Financial Services & Products Group. “These needs are growing in volume, range and sophistication, and our new team brings significant legal and business acumen to help deliver on these challenges while expanding our corporate platform in Texas. We are incredibly excited about the combination of our two banking teams, and we look forward to the synergies that we will be able to realize through this union.”
The group is the latest addition to Alston & Bird’s Dallas office, which last year welcomed eight finance lawyers, including four partners, from Andrews Kurth LLP.
“Dallas is a significant market for us and our clients, and we are excited to add these new lawyers to our growing Dallas office,” said Darren Hauck, partner in charge of Alston & Bird’s Dallas office. “Leveraging their experience will be a critical part of our growth strategy for banking and finance work in Dallas and the rest of Texas.”
“I’ve worked on and off with Alston & Bird for almost 30 years and greatly admire the firm,” said Sandy Brown. “My impressions of the firm's qualities were confirmed and magnified through the interview process. The firm's focus on financial services as an industry made it really easy for me to see the benefits to our clients and team members of making Alston & Bird our new home.”
Partner Biographies
Sanford “Sandy” Brown
Brown counsels financial institutions and specialty finance companies, as well as their shareholders and holding companies, in matters involving state and federal banking laws, regulatory and enforcement actions and corporate transactions, including M&A, securities offerings, holding company formations and Subchapter S corporation elections. His career includes two years as a member of the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Michael Tankersley
Tankersley provides advisory and transactional services to public and private financial institutions, business corporations, boards, management and investors. He also assists clients with SEC reporting and compliance, corporate governance matters, business combinations and divestitures and internal investigations. Additionally, he counsels financial institutions on regulatory compliance, reporting obligations and interactions with regulators, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Based in Alston & Bird’s Dallas office, the group is led by partners Sanford “Sandy” Brown, former head of Bracewell’s Dallas financial services practice, and Michael Tankersley. They are joined by counsel Patrick Hanchey and Kristen Cunningham and associate Lauren Chase, with other associates expected to follow.
“Our new team represents a significant expansion of our corporate capabilities that are particularly important in Dallas and across the region and that complement a number of our firm’s strategic interests, including bank regulatory, M&A, securities, private equity and alternative investments,” said Alston & Bird Managing Partner Richard Hays. “These and other hires we have made recently in Dallas will be transformative in enhancing our brand and highlighting our commitment to clients in the crucial Texas market and in the Midwest region generally.”
The new partners collectively spent more than 30 years together as partners at their former firm. Among their clients are financial institutions, banks, specialty finance companies, retailers, insurers and corporations. Their recent deal work includes representing Veritex Holdings, Inc. on its $40 million IPO; advising NexBank SSB on its purchase of College Savings Bank of Princeton, NJ; and representing Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc. and its subsidiary, Texas Capital Bank N.A., in common stock and debt offerings with proceeds totaling $287 million.
“We have a wide-ranging and incredibly active financial services practice focused on providing our clients with creative solutions and anticipating their needs across a broad range of regulatory and transactional matters,” said Mark Kanaly, chair of Alston & Bird’s Financial Services & Products Group. “These needs are growing in volume, range and sophistication, and our new team brings significant legal and business acumen to help deliver on these challenges while expanding our corporate platform in Texas. We are incredibly excited about the combination of our two banking teams, and we look forward to the synergies that we will be able to realize through this union.”
The group is the latest addition to Alston & Bird’s Dallas office, which last year welcomed eight finance lawyers, including four partners, from Andrews Kurth LLP.
“Dallas is a significant market for us and our clients, and we are excited to add these new lawyers to our growing Dallas office,” said Darren Hauck, partner in charge of Alston & Bird’s Dallas office. “Leveraging their experience will be a critical part of our growth strategy for banking and finance work in Dallas and the rest of Texas.”
“I’ve worked on and off with Alston & Bird for almost 30 years and greatly admire the firm,” said Sandy Brown. “My impressions of the firm's qualities were confirmed and magnified through the interview process. The firm's focus on financial services as an industry made it really easy for me to see the benefits to our clients and team members of making Alston & Bird our new home.”
Partner Biographies
Sanford “Sandy” Brown
Brown counsels financial institutions and specialty finance companies, as well as their shareholders and holding companies, in matters involving state and federal banking laws, regulatory and enforcement actions and corporate transactions, including M&A, securities offerings, holding company formations and Subchapter S corporation elections. His career includes two years as a member of the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Michael Tankersley
Tankersley provides advisory and transactional services to public and private financial institutions, business corporations, boards, management and investors. He also assists clients with SEC reporting and compliance, corporate governance matters, business combinations and divestitures and internal investigations. Additionally, he counsels financial institutions on regulatory compliance, reporting obligations and interactions with regulators, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.