Joe Orien is an associate in the Dallas office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.  His practice focuses on complex business transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, growth and venture investments, minority investments, leveraged acquisitions, exits, complex strategic and commercial agreements, operating agreements and equity incentive structures, and advising on general corporate matters.

Previously Joe served as the General Counsel of Integrity Marketing Group, an independent distributor of life and health insurance products, where he advised the company on legal, business and regulatory matters, including several acquisitions.  He has also represented a variety of public and private companies, investment funds and high-net-worth individuals and family offices in various industries, including financial services, marketing, infrastructure, retail and consumer products, energy, entertainment and technology, in transactions in size ranging from several millions to billions of dollars.

Joe earned his law degree summa cum laude from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Brigham Young University Law Review.  He graduated with Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Accounting from Brigham Young University.  Prior to joining the firm, Joe clerked for the Honorable Jennifer Walker Elrod of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Representative Transactions

• Counsel to D.R. Horton in its acquisition of a controlling interest in publicly-traded Forestar Group, Inc.
• Counsel to Sony Pictures Television Networks in its agreement to acquire a substantial majority stake in Japanese anime distributor Funimation Productions, Ltd.
• Counsel to Atmos Energy in its acquisition of a natural gas pipeline and related assets from EnLink Midstream and its disposition of its energy marketing subsidiary to CenterPoint Energy
• Counsel to Pizza Hut in its acquisition of ordering provider QuikOrder
• Counsel to Edge Natural Resources, LLC in its formation of a joint venture focused on small-cap upstream oil and gas investments
• Counsel to CenterOak Partners LLC in its acquisitions of multiple portfolio companies
• Counsel to FAM AB, owned by the three largest Wallenberg Foundations, in connection with its investment in Swedish packaging manufacturer Nefab
• Counsel to French pharmaceutical company Virbac SA in its acquisition of assets from Eli Lilly
• Counsel to Brazos Private Equity Partners in connection with acquisitions of multiple portfolio companies