Bill Porter is chairman of the firm and the senior partner in the firm's corporate and securities law section.  In practice since 1966, Mr. Porter is a nationally recognized corporate and securities law practitioner. He has comprehensive experience in the representation of publicly-held companies in all phases of the petroleum industry and in a variety of manufacturing, mining, distribution and service companies ranging from steel processing to internet technologies, as well as financial institutions and investment banks serving those industries.

Mr. Porter has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Corporate Section, since 1983.  He was named one of the top five securities lawyers in the State of Texas by Texas Lawyer in 2002, and as a Texas Super Lawyer in surveys conducted by Texas Monthly since 2003.  In 2006, Corporate Counsel named him as "Best Lawyer in Corporate Law," and he has been listed in Who's Who in America and several other Who's Who publications, including Who's Who in American Law since 1985. In 2008, Mr. Porter was named in Super Lawyers, Corporate Counsel Edition in the area of Securities and Corporate Finance.

Representative Experience

• More than 100 primary, secondary and follow-on public offerings, either as issuer or underwriter counsel.
• More than 100 merger, acquisition and reorganization transactions, as counsel for acquirors, sellers, bankers or principal stockholders.
• Board representation covering a broad spectrum of corporate governance issues.
• Prosecution and defense of tender offers, proxy contests and other change of control transactions.
• Going-private transactions.
• Substantive law advice in connection with securities and corporate litigation matters and administrative proceedings before the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Professional / Civic Affiliations

• Martindale Hubbell AV Rated Attorney
• Served on the State Bar of Texas committees on Securities and Investment Banking, Corporate Law, Tender Offer Regulation, Securities Legislation and Corporate Legal Opinions, several of which he has also chaired.
• Has been a member of the American Bar Association committees on Securities Law, Proxy Regulation and Law Firms.
• Trustee, Texas Heart Institute, 2002-present
• Director, Alley Theatre, Houston, since 1988; Member, Executive Committee, since 1989; President, 1991-1993; Chairman of the Board, 1993-1995; Endowment Committee chairman since 1998
• Director, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 2006-present
• Director, River Oaks Property Owners Association
• Director, Coronado Club
• Life Member, Board of Visitors, Duke University Law School
• Director, U.S. Concrete, Inc. (NASDAQ), since 2001; member of governance and compensation committees.
• Director, Helix Energy Services Group, Inc. (NYSE), since 2004; chairman, governance committee; member, audit committee.
• Director, Copano Energy LLC (NASDAQ), since 2004; chairman, governance committee; member compensation committee.
• Director, Gundle/SLT Environmental, Inc. (NYSE), 1988-2004; lead director 2003-2004.
• Director, Metals USA (NYSE), 1997-2002; lead director, 2001-2002.
• Director, Southwestern Institute for the Study of Hospital and Health Care Systems, Houston, 1989-1991
• Director, Houston Business Arts Fund, 1989
• Adjunct Instructor, Duke University Law School, 1985-1989
• Trustee, St. Paul's United Methodist Church, Houston, 1975-1978
• Adjunct Instructor in Finance, Southern Methodist University, 1967-1968

News

• 2008 Super Lawyers Announced (9/17/2008)
• Porter & Hedges' Attorneys Named to Texas' Best Lawyers List (8/13/2008)
• Porter & Hedges' Attorneys Named in Super Lawyers Corporate Counsel Edition (8/13/2008)
• Attorneys Receive Local Recognition (6/9/2008)
• Seventy percent of Porter & Hedges' Attorneys Named as 2007 Texas Super Lawyers (9/17/2007)
• Porter Unanimously Re-Elected Firm Chairman (1/31/2007)
• 27 Porter & Hedges' Attorneys Named as 2006 Texas Super Lawyers (9/25/2006)
• 14 Porter & Hedges' Attorneys Named as Best Lawyers in America for 2007 (9/5/2006)
• Recent Porter & Hedges Leadership Appointments (4/27/2006)
• Bill Porter Elected to Board of Directors of the Coronado Club and the Hobby Center (3/1/2006)
• Seventy Percent of Porter & Hedges' Partners Selected as Super Lawyers (10/1/2005)
• Fifty Percent of Porter & Hedges' Partners Selected as Super Lawyers in 2003 Survey (11/1/2003)
• Houston Law Firms Cope With Disaster: Tropical Storm Allison (7/31/2001)

Publications

• Bill Porter was a principal author of “Standards Pertaining to the Estimating and Auditing of Oil and Gas Reservoir Information,” jointly adopted by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers (the original generally accepted reservoir engineering standards for publicly-held issuers).
• Mr. Porter has also presented numerous papers on various finance-related legal topics at seminars sponsored by organizations such as the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants, State Bar of Texas, Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers, Association for Corporate Growth, and the American Bar Association, and at seminars jointly sponsored by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Texas State Securities Board, University of Texas and the State Bar of Texas.

Articles

• Pro Bono: "Thank You" Is Pay For Lawyers' Service (2/9/2004)
• Porter & Hedges Adds to Growing Ranks (3/10/2003)
• Houston Law Firms Cope With Disaster: Tropical Storm Allison (8/1/2001)