In this episode, we sit down with Thomas Hooks, General Counsel, Chief of Staff at Stately, and City Councilman in Lafayette, Louisiana to explore how legal, strategy, and leadership intersect in M&A and beyond.

Thomas isn’t your average in-house attorney. With a background that spans industrial services, local politics, and private equity dealmaking, he brings a systems-thinking lens to every deal, team, and tension point. He’s also a husband and father of six with a grounded identity rooted in faith and family.

Whether you’re an M&A lead, founder, operator, or advisor, this episode will challenge how you think about risk, integration, and the people side of transactions.

Key Topics Covered:

• How to balance family, faith, and high-performance leadership
• The four great temptations in ambitious environments: wealth, pleasure, power, and honor
• Why general counsel must be the unpopular truth-teller in deals
• M&A strategy: scale vs. capabilities, and how to think like an operator
• Leveraging salespeople and product experts for acquisition insights
• The difference between public-sector and private-sector deal dynamics
• How to build organizational alignment across visionary and risk-averse leadership

Connect with the Guest:

Thomas Hooks

General Counsel & Chief of Staff, Stately

City Councilman, Lafayette, LA

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasrhooks/

Connect with the Hosts & The Deal Podcast:

Joshua Wilson LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuabrucewilson/

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDealPodcast

Website: https://www.thedealpodcast.com