What were the firm’s biggest or most important (non-client) achievements as a firm in 2020?
Successfully converting to remote work and the improved integration of technology into the operation of the business. Going from a traditional brick-and-mortar firm to a virtual law firm on an emergency basis almost overnight.
As a firm, what were your biggest challenges and how did you address them?
Taking the appropriate steps to protect the firm, all of its stakeholders, and its clients against the risks associated with the pandemic while continuing to provide excellent service to clients.
What were three of the most important successes your firm’s Texas lawyers achieved for clients last year?
When the pandemic began, we filled a gap for our clients wanting to know how best to address these challenges by developing proprietary research through our COVID-19 Employer Flash Survey, hosting multiple webinars and developing thought leadership through our COVID-19 Resource Center. Our Texas litigators navigated and overcame never before seen challenges, for example, securing a significant victory in one of the first appellate oral arguments conducted via Zoom before the Fourth Court of Appeals in San Antonio. As coronavirus ravaged the economy, Dykema’s bankruptcy team stepped up to help debtors and creditors find solutions and protection. Our transactional attorneys saw a significant practice increase in 2020 and our Dental Service Organizations (DSO) practice, based in Texas, closed nearly 50 deals in the fourth quarter alone.
Who are two Texas lawyers – one partner, one associate – who really shined in 2020 and why?
Chris Kratovil, leader of Dykema’s Dallas office and national lateral hiring efforts, provided the response to this question.
People think of us as a litigation and dental services firm, but the hidden gem here at Dykema Dallas is our real estate practice, which is pound-for-pound as strong as any in Texas. Along with Brian Forbes, the co-leader of our real estate practice is Bob Feroze. I’ve known Bob literally my whole career, going back to when I was a baby lawyer at Hughes & Luce and he led that firm’s real estate practice, and I don’t think I’ve ever met a smarter or more tenacious deal lawyer. Nor do I know a finer gentleman. Bob and Dykema’s Dallas real estate team had a banner year in 2020, and I expect that will continue in 2021.
Watching an associate come into their own as a fully-mature and capable lawyer is one of this profession’s great joys. I had this experience last year with Jose (Joe) Rubio, who has gone from a high quality litigation associate into a lawyer who can run his own litigation matters from start to finish. Joe is smart, attentive to detail, and fearless. We’re lucky to have a young litigator of his caliber.
What was the firm’s biggest pro bono/public service success in Texas of 2020?
One pro bono effort that Dykema’s Texas attorneys are particularly proud of involves our work with the New Orleans-based Promise of Justice Initiative’s Jim Crow Juries Project. The Project is an unprecedented litigation campaign to restore justice to the more than 1,500 Louisianans who remain in prison due to non-unanimous jury convictions in state criminal trials, which were declared unconstitutional under the Sixth Amendment by the U.S. Supreme Court on April 20, 2020, in Ramos v Louisiana. The landmark decision applies to future cases and is currently not being applied retroactively, leaving people already serving sentences due to non-unanimous verdicts—including life without possibility of parole—to remain in prison. Dykema’s Texas attorneys currently represent twelve clients currently incarcerated in Louisiana despite the state failing to obtain unanimous verdicts. Dykema is honored to play a part in this important work, and firm-wide Dykema is handling more cases through the Jim Crow Juries Project than any other law firm partnering with the Promise of Justice Initiative.
What was the firm’s most significant move forward in addressing diversity and inclusion in 2020?
Educating our employees, as well as the expansion of existing and the establishment of new Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). The ERGs are designed to help drive inclusion and diversity by providing a safe space for new and seasoned professionals to network, mentor, share knowledge and experience, participate in personal and professional development, and more.
Moving into 2021, Dykema will join the Mansfield Rule organization to increase and sustain a diverse and inclusive workforce. Joining the Mansfield Rule boosts the representation of diverse lawyers in law firm leadership by broadening the pool of candidates considered for those opportunities.
What is your No. 1 goal as a law firm for 2021?
Return to “normal” while continuing to identify new technology that will allow us to more effectively serve clients. We seek to retain some of the creative strategies learned and technology-based efficiencies gained during the pandemic period, while recapturing the key parts of our pre-pandemic operations.