Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld has added two Thompson & Knight corporate transactions partners in Texas, joining two former colleagues who recently made the same move, as a shakeout affects Thompson & Knight before its planned merger with Holland & Knight.

Jesse Betts joined Akin Gump as a partner in Dallas on May 13 and Cole Bredthauer joined on Monday in Fort Worth, as Akin Gump continues to grow its corporate practice in Texas. In April, Wesley Williams, the firmwide head of Thompson & Knight’s corporate and securities practice, moved to Akin Gump as a corporate partner in Dallas and Fort Worth, along with Jessica Hammons, who joined as a corporate partner in Dallas.