McGuireWoods LLP continued to strengthen its Texas oil and gas industry capabilities on Aug. 26 with the arrival of partner Patrick Knapp.

Knapp brings nearly a decade of experience representing domestic and international energy companies in major deals. He joins McGuireWoods’ M&A practice at the firm’s Dallas and Houston offices.

According to a company release, McGuireWoods consistently ranks among the top law firms in league tables for M&A, including private equity. The firm remained a dominant player advising clients in M&A transactions through the first half of 2019, earning top five rankings for U.S. deal count and top 10 rankings for global transactions in league tables published by Refinitiv and Bloomberg.

The firm’s energy industry team includes more than 200 lawyers who work across all sectors of the industry. Knapp’s arrival follows the recent addition of Houston partner Eric Schlichter, who has nearly two decades of experience litigating matters for clients in the oil and gas and technology industries.

“McGuireWoods has established itself as a leader in innovative, industry-focused client service and the firm’s Texas offices play a vital role,” Knapp said in a statement. “I look forward to putting my experience to work to build on that success for clients.”

Previously, Knapp was with Robert Anderson Law, where he represented Bridger purchasers and spinoff businesses in M&A, corporate governance, regulatory and commercial matters. Prior to that, he served as managing counsel for Bridger Logistics, the midstream division of Ferrellgas Partners LP, from 2014 to 2018. During that time, he led the divestiture and wind-down of the entire midstream division.

Knapp’s industry experience also enhances the firm’s ability to serve its expanding private equity client base, said Akash Sethi, managing partner of the Dallas office, in the company release.

“We look forward to leveraging Pat’s market insight and building on our reputation for delivering world-class service to institutional and individual investors,” Sethi said.

At McGuireWoods, Knapp will be responsible for structures commercial, corporate and financing transactions for upstream, midstream and downstream companies. He represents producers, marketers, logistics providers and refiners in the U.S., Canada and Mexico in complicated international deals.