Farewell Vinson & Elkins

Today marks my last day at Vinson & Elkins (VE).  I’ve been here for about 7 years and it’s been nothing but wonderful.  My last semester in college, I did a small internship at VE. Towards the end of the internship I came up to my boss (Norman Carnahan) and asked him how I could get to where he was at.  Without any hesitation he offered me a job and that’s how this entire ride started!  In those 7 years VE has really taken care of me and for that I’m extremely grateful.

A California-based firm called Paul Hastings is opening up shop in town and I was approached by them to join their team. It was hard to make the decision but after a lot of thought and prayer, it just seemed to be the best move for me to head over to the new firm.  I’ll still be in downtown and will be doing the exact same work, so that’s comforting.

I’m really going to miss the relationships I’ve made over the years.  I was blessed to be surrounded by really great people professionally and personally.  VE is a great platform to meet and work with some of the best in town (if not the nation).      I’m also going to miss the actual building.  I was here long enough to see our offices be converted from an 80’s nightmare to really amazing, modern, light and bright office spaces.  The views of Discovery Green (which I was able to see its construction), Toyota Center and even catching a glimpse of the new Soccer stadium being built is also something pretty cool to see on a daily basis.   On one side of the building you’re able to see out towards the medical center and beyond.  The beauty to me about this building is that from certain sides, your view is not obstructed by any other tall buildings, so you can see very far out.   Sometimes I’m in the office before the sun is up and it’s really beautiful to see our city with the street lights and building lights making the ground look like a starry night.

I can only hope that Paul Hastings can match and exceed the experience I’ve had at VE, but they’ve got some big shoes to fill.  I’m very hopeful and excited about my new beginnings.   Farewell Vinson & Elkins, you will be missed…