The Deal Profiles Nicholas Houpt as One of Its Rising Stars

Akin Gump corporate partner Nicholas Houpt has been profiled by The Deal as one of its Rising Stars for 2020. In the article, Houpt, who was promoted to partner at Akin Gump at the beginning of the year, talks about his career path and how he was drawn to corporate work from the outset.

Houpt first described how, when he joined Akin Gump after law school in 2011, he was offered a chance to try out transactional work through the firm’s practice rotation program. It gave him an opportunity, he said, to experience the fast-paced world of M&A.

“What I really appreciated about Akin [Gump] is that they let me explore different sides of the transactions practice as an associate,” explained Houpt. “I did M&A for a year, then did capital markets, then did debt finance, and so I picked up what I guess you could call a generalist’s education before specializing, which I thought was really helpful.”

Houpt said he was most attracted to the debt finance and M&A areas of transactions, particularly where the two intersected, such as special situations M&A. This, he noted, allowed him to work alongside corporate partner Dan Fisher.

“Dan gave me a lot of opportunity early on and steered me toward these niche special situations, where he felt my unique skillset was geared well toward the practice he was developing at Akin [Gump],” said Houpt. “He’s also a person who is very into client service and focusing on communication skills.”

The Deal notes that Houpt was the first person in his family to attend and graduate from a four-year college, so Fisher’s mentorship was instrumental in solidifying his interest in law. Some of his recent transactions include advising AT&T in the sale of its stake in Game Show Network (click here to learn more) and advising Eastman Kodak in the sale of its flexographic packaging division to Montagu Private Equity (click here to learn more).

“I originally knew Nick when he was a completely green first year associate in our New York office,” said Akin Gump’s corporate practice co-head Jeffrey Kochian. “After he moved to our Dallas office, we interacted less frequently, yet each time I had the opportunity to work with him, it was clear how much his skills had improved — how much his confidence had grown — since our last interaction.”

To this day, The Deal reports, Houpt still approaches each transaction as a learning experience, in which he is continuously honing his skills.

“For me, my career is analogous to being a craftsman, and each client has their own unique and thorny issues,” he said. “My job is to be like the tailor making a bespoke suit. It has to fit their exact needs and get their job done.”