04 May 2026
Paul, Weiss Welcomes Aisha P. Lavinier and Jim Cole as Partners in Houston
"Paul, Weiss has hired Aisha P. Lavinier as a partner in its M&A Group (Corporate) and Jim Cole as a partner in its Tax Department, both resident in the firm’s Houston office."
Aisha P. Lavinier joins Paul, Weiss as a partner in the firm’s M&A Group within the Corporate Department, resident in Houston. She advises private equity sponsors, financial investors and public and private companies on complex, high‑stakes transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, carve‑outs and significant capital financings. Her clients have included major private equity firms and corporates across industries such as software and technology, digital infrastructure, energy, utilities and infrastructure, chemicals and industrials, transportation and logistics, healthcare and life sciences, and consumer and retail. Her past representations include work for Thoma Bravo and its portfolio company HCSS in a business combination with a Nemetschek division; Clearlake Capital on the sale of TEAM Technologies and on acquisitions including BBB Industries and Intertape Polymer Group; Silver Oak Services Partners on the sale of Integrated Oncology Network to Cardinal Health; and transactions for Bain Capital and Madison Dearborn Partners. Lavinier has been named to Savoy’s “Most Influential Black Lawyers” list (2022, 2024) and was recognized by Super Lawyers as an M&A “Rising Star” in 2023. She holds a B.A. from Rice University and a J.D., cum laude, from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.
Jim Cole joins Paul, Weiss as a partner in the Tax Department, resident in Houston. He advises corporate and private equity clients on tax aspects of major energy, infrastructure and project finance transactions, including tax issues in M&A, financings, capital markets and restructurings. Cole’s practice emphasizes the energy sector—upstream, midstream, downstream, oil field services and alternative energy—and includes a focus on the section 45Q tax credit for carbon capture projects and energy tax incentives for wind and solar. His clients have included public and private companies, private equity firms, lenders, investment banks, developers, publicly traded partnerships and master limited partnerships. Recent representations include advising CPP Investments and Encino Energy in the sale of Encino Acquisition Partners to EOG Resources; Altus Power in its take‑private by TPG; Targa Resources Corp. in its acquisition of Stakeholder Midstream; and Torch Clean Energy in a strategic partnership with Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners. He holds a B.B.A. and M.S. from Texas A&M University and a J.D., cum laude, from the University of Houston Law Center.