From left to right: Andy Green, Basil Umari, Isaac Villarreal, Amanda Gordon, Nicholas Zugaro
Dykema opened its fifth office in Texas on Monday with Houston litigators from McCathern.
Chris Kratovil, who leads Dykema’s Dallas office and is the firm’s national recruiting partner, said the firm has been eyeing Houston for a while. The firm, which has 115 lawyers in Texas, has tapped Isaac Villarreal and Andy Green to lead its foray into the state’s largest legal market.
Villarreal and Green are being joined by associate Amanda Gordon. Restructuring lawyers Nicholas Zugaro and Basil Umari, who moved to Dykema during the pandemic, complete the five-lawyer office.
“To bill ourselves as a full-service Texas law firm we needed a Houston presence, which is in many ways the most critical piece,” Kratovil, who has been at the beginnings of Dykema’s growth in Texas, told The Texas Lawbook. “To watch the firm expand to be a truly trans-Texas firm is exciting.”
Villarreal said Dykema is a “perfect fit” for his business. Green agreed and noted that the firm’s national reach has already proved advantageous in developing new business. Both lawyers highlighted the challenge of building a new office – Dykema’s 14th firmwide – as a draw.
The duo works together as a team with Villarreal serving as a trial lawyer and Green handling all pre-trial litigation aspects. They counsel clients from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies.
Villarreal said the trickle-down effect of supply-chain issues, particularly at the Houston Ship Channel, has created more legal work, from offering clients guidance to navigating potential litigation.
Green noted he is watching the fallout from the CARES Act and the Payroll Protection Program and is curious how those government programs might be affected by the upcoming midterm elections.
But the area of litigation that continues to “burn hot and burn fast,” says Kravotil, is non-compete, non-solicit and trade-secret cases as the war for talent in competitive industries in Texas is at an “all-time high.”
Dykema, which also has Texas outposts in Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and McAllen, reported $55.5 million in Texas revenues in 2020, according to The Texas Lawbook 50. The Lawbook will report law firms’ 2021 headcount and revenues in the coming weeks.