Vinson & Elkins is opening a new office in Denver to support the firm’s client base in the region – the latest US firm to launch in Colorado this year.

The new office, which officially opens on 1 November, will be led by existing partners Sarah Morgan, Mike Joyce and Ramey Layne, with Morgan serving as Denver managing partner. The firm said it plans to hire additional partners and associates in the city.

The Denver team will focus on M&A, securities, tax equity and project finance transactions. Morgan is co-head of the firm’s capital markets and M&A practice, advising banks, management teams and private equity firms on capital-raising transactions, M&A and other strategic deals.

Joyce, meantime, co-heads the firm’s energy transactions and projects practice group, advising on infrastructure finance and tax-credit monetisation deals involving renewable energy and energy transition assets. Layne is a partner in the firm’s capital markets practice, advising on public and private transactions.

Morgan said: “Denver offers a central US location with easy access to both coasts and Texas, making the city a strategic market for companies with national and international business operations. The city’s thriving business ecosystem, coupled with a robust legal talent pool, presents numerous opportunities for us to expand on our established local client base and attract top-flight lawyers to the firm.”

The Denver office is the firm’s ninth in the US and 13th overall, according to its website. It last opened a new US office in Los Angeles back in 2021 and Richmond, Virginia in 2016.

Joyce said: “Vinson & Elkins’ core strengths representing corporate clients in complex and cutting-edge transactions mesh perfectly with the Denver market, which is a hub for innovation in energy and other industrial sectors.”

Other firms have also been opening in Denver as they seek to tap into the wider Colorado legal market. In May, national US firm Venable launched in Denver with the arrival of an eight-lawyer commercial and employment litigation team from Sherman & Howard. That followed the April launch of Frost Brown Todd’s Denver office with the arrival of nine partners from firms including Moye White, Brownstein and Lewis Roca.