HOUSTON – Global law firm Reed Smith has made a significant addition to its finance practice, appointing J. Eric Holland to partner in its Financial Industry Group in Houston. Eric joins from Bracewell, and will play a key role in the growth of Reed Smith’s lending and energy finance capabilities.
Eric’s practice focuses on representing investment banks, hedge funds and other institutional lenders and borrowers in secured and unsecured credit facilities, including senior and subordinated debt financings, acquisition financings, project financings, term loans, working capital loans, note purchase agreements, repurchase agreements, joint ventures, transportation financings, real estate development loans, and securities purchase agreements, intercompany loans and participation agreements. Eric also has experience working with hedging facilities and International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) collateral transactions. Furthermore, he has worked on matters involving the work-outs, restructuring and bankruptcies of several facilities.
“Our finance practice – and in particular our energy finance practice – is an area of strategic importance to our firm. By bringing Eric on, we have added an attorney with an exceptional reputation for advising clients on complex transactional work in a diverse range of areas, including upstream, midstream and oilfield services transactions,” said Ed Estrada, global chair of Reed Smith’s Financial Industry Group. “We are excited for the potential synergies between Eric, our current roster of global finance attorneys, our colleagues in the Energy and Natural Resources practice, and our clients. We are thrilled to welcome Eric to the firm.”
Reed Smith, which celebrated its fifth anniversary in Texas in early 2018, has welcomed 21 new attorneys to its Houston office over the last 12 months, and opened an office in Austin this past summer. With Eric’s arrival, the firm’s Houston office is now home to more than 70 lawyers and more than 30 professional staff, including Life Sciences Health Industry Group partner Sara Brinkmann, who joined Reed Smith along with a 15-person team from Norton Rose Fulbright in May, and leading workplace safety and environmental partner Ben Patton, who joined the global Energy & Natural Resources Group earlier this year. Additionally, veteran energy pipelines partner Peggy Heeg joined the Houston office last fall.
“As we near the end of our sixth year in Texas, we’re proud of our steady expansion in Houston and strategic growth in Austin,” said Reed Smith Houston managing partner Ken Broughton, “Eric’s arrival reflects client demand for, and our commitment to, building the very best financial services team for the region, which draws upon resources of our industry-leading Financial Industry Group.”
Eric received his J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School where he was a member of The Vanderbilt Law Review and The Journal of Transnational Law. He earned his B.A. from George Washington University, magna cum laude with a degree in International Affairs, German Language, and Literature.