© 2013 The Texas Lawbook.
By Natalie Posgate
Staff Writer for The Texas Lawbook
(November 1) – How the law firm came together is just as unique as the location of its office.
Nestled in the West End of downtown Dallas, Stewart Strong opted for a historic but eclectic location to operate its business law practices, rather than the traditional setting its peer business law firms in the city tend to choose: one or several floors in the various skyscrapers scattered across mainstream downtown Dallas, the Arts District or Uptown.
Once inside Stewart Strong’s suite in the Market Ross Place building, the feel of the firm is far from the corporate world all of its clients live in. A shirt paired with fly-fishing pants (with or without flip flops) is a completely acceptable outfit choice. Only reluctantly are suits worn. The attorneys’ individual office doors are seldom closed. Some of the named partners started out as friends first, business partners later. They get along flawlessly, but – like any close friends – if there’s a conflict, they aren’t afraid to hash issues out through arguing.
Stewart Strong is far from fitting the norm, but that’s not hurting it. The firm is finding that business is better than ever – both professionally and personally.
An Organic Formation
After spending more than 30 years representing doctors, nurses, hospitals and other major health care companies, James “Mac” Stewart started a boutique health care law firm in 2000 after recognizing a need in the market for a one-stop shop for health care services. Law partners came and went, and eventually the firm became Stewart Dugger & Dean in 2011. The latter names, Keith Dugger and Mitch Dean, had previously worked as in-house counsel for large health organizations before joining forces with Stewart.
Meanwhile, Staci Strong and Jodie Slater Hastings, two friends who decided to form a firm together, were in need of a workspace for their brand new real estate and commercial litigation law firm. Stewart Dugger & Dean had extra space in its West End office and offered to sublease some extra square footage in 2011. Months later, corporate attorney Ty Johnson came aboard and the firm name became Strong Slater and Johnson.
During the time the two firms shared office space, they realized they kind of liked each other. It was fair to say the two firms were dating.
One day, they decided to take their relationship to the next level in the form of a civil union. It made sense after all, since they were already living under the same roof.
Thus Stewart Strong Dugger Dean Kulwicki Johnson & Slater was established in January 2013.
The Team
Now the firm has 13 attorneys and offers a broad but focused range of legal services to its clients: health care, corporate, litigation, real estate, white-collar defense and government investigations.
Stewart said he is pleased with how the firm came together because the marriage of the two groups occurred naturally and it grew to meet the changing needs of its clients.
For example, Stewart started noticing a growing amount of health care practitioners having the desire to own real estate for their businesses versus lease a property.
“We didn’t have the [real estate] expertise, and they didn’t have access to health care (clients),” Stewart said. “For two years I had been saying, ‘we need your help.’
“The synergy between the two groups that came together has been very remarkable in my opinion,” he added. “We used to have to turn down a lot of work. It absolutely has expanded what we can do and expanded our client base.”
Part of Stewart Strong’s makeup is credited to the attorneys of a well-respected boutique law firm in Dallas deciding to close shop and part ways. When Curran Tomko & Tarsiki closed its doors this spring, it opened the door for Stewart Strong to score a couple valuable lateral hires.
For Stewart, this was an opportunity to finally explore the possibility of working with an old friend, Lea Courington, a prominent antitrust lawyer and former federal white-collar criminal prosecutor. Stewart and Courington had been running in the same circles for 25 years in and out of the courtroom during product liability cases.
When Curran Tomko – Courington’s home for six years – closed, she called Stewart to grab a drink.
Courington’s call sparked Stewart to have three thoughts.
“The first was, maybe she’s finally open to figure out a way to work together, he said. “The second was she’s offering us an invitation to join them.”
The third scenario, he said, was a bit more nerve-racking. Because Courington’s practice has a significant focus on white-collar criminal matters involving health care providers, Stewart worried his old friend was calling to warn him that one of his clients was about to be indicted.
“It [thankfully] turned out to be, ‘Let’s figure out how to work together,’ ” he said with a laugh.
Courington and fellow Curran Tomko colleague Chris Harvey joined Stewart Strong in May – Courington as a partner, and Harvey as of counsel.
Courington’s litigation practice focuses on health care, commercial, products liability, toxic tort and antitrust matters. She also handles internal investigations and advises clients on disclosure obligations under federal law, as well as helps health care providers and their management that are facing potential parallel criminal and civil investigations.
Harvey, an active trial lawyer for more than 40 years, practices litigation at the firm. His experience ranges from trying motion picture antitrust cases to First Amendment litigation to complex products liability actions.
Though adding Courington and Harvey to the team was a no-brainer for Stewart, others at the firm asked “days of questions” before ensuring that the two were a perfect fit.
“We had just merged only a few months ago, so it was the worst time to be adding people,” said Brandon Kulwicki, who started working with Stewart as an associate in 2006 and became a named partner when Stewart Strong formed.
But all recognized that the hard questions needed to be asked and it showed how strong of a bond the attorneys had with each other.
“I thought it was a plus that we got so many hard questions,” Courington said. “They wanted to sit down and talk face to face, eye to eye to ask all those hard questions. It made me like the firm even better.”
The partners also share entrepreneurial spirits.
Strong, who formerly practiced real estate law at Thompson & Knight, originally saw herself happily working at the same firm for the rest of her life. But when she had a baby in 2008, she realized that she wanted a different lifestyle.
Growing up, Hastings learned the ins and outs of running a dental practice because her dad was a dentist. She even assisted in a root canal one time.
Before joining forces with Strong, Hastings was at Wick Phillips in Dallas. One day, her entrepreneurial nature came back to her and she realized she would rather be her own boss.
“Some think it’s liberating to work for yourself; some think it’s terrifying. It has been so rewarding,” she said. “If I’m going to work this hard, I’m going to work for myself.”
Stewart said the firm is considering geographic expansion, eyeing growth in West Texas.
Regardless of where Stewart Strong goes and expands, the attorneys indicated that they are here for the long haul.
“I want this to be it – the last place my name is on the door,” Strong said. “I don’t want the names to change.”
© 2013 The Texas Lawbook. Content of The Texas Lawbook is controlled and protected by specific licensing agreements with our subscribers and under federal copyright laws. Any distribution of this content without the consent of The Texas Lawbook is prohibited.
If you see any inaccuracy in any article in The Texas Lawbook, please contact us. Our goal is content that is 100% true and accurate. Thank you.