K&L Gates Boosts Corporate/M&A Practice with Dallas Partner Addition

Dallas - The Dallas office of global law firm K&L Gates LLP has added Jill B. Louis as a partner in the corporate/M&A practice. Most recently, Louis was general counsel and corporate secretary for FleetPride, Inc., one of the largest independent distributors of heavy duty truck and trailer parts in the United States, and also previously served an in-house counsel role at FedEx Office. 

Louis has more than two decades of experience advising leaders of public and private industrial, retail, technology, and business services companies on both legal and business matters. In addition to counseling on corporate/M&A, corporate governance, and international commerce matters, she also advises in such areas as intellectual property, outsourcing, and risk management issues.

“Jill is an extraordinary legal talent,” said John Garda, administrative partner of K&L Gates’ Dallas office. “With her background, experience, and business acumen, she employs a solution-focused approach in advising senior executive teams on the most complicated legal and business challenges."

At FleetPride, Louis successfully negotiated and closed four strategic acquisitions in four markets during a 12-month period, resolved a number of legal disputes to avoid multimillion-dollar exposure, and led several internal and external cross-disciplinary teams focused on operational processes. Prior to that, Louis was a senior legal executive at FedEx Office, where she managed the company’s transactions and regulatory compliance, advised on FedEx’s acquisition and disposition strategy in China, Japan, and Korea, and led on various complex outsourcing matters. Earlier in her career, Louis worked as an associate at Hughes & Luce LLP, which combined with K&L Gates in 2008.

“We are really excited about increasing our investment in the robust Dallas legal market with Jill’s hire,” added Garda.