© 2018 The Texas Lawbook.
By Mark Curriden
(May 7) – No two law firms in Texas can claim a greater historical impact on the country than Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and Norton Rose Fulbright.
Both firms were founded in Texas and continue to have deep roots in the state, though neither is headquartered in the state any longer. They boast larger than life characters among their founders, including Watergate special prosecutor Leon Jaworski and U.S. Trade Ambassador Robert Strauss.
The two firms employ hundreds of corporate lawyers in Dallas and Houston and are among the largest law firms operating in Texas in terms of revenues and lawyer head count. Both have client lists that include some of the biggest businesses in the world.
For the first time, both firms officially topped $1 billion in firm-wide revenues in 2017.
“The firm had great success in 2017,” Chris LaFollette, managing partner of the Houston office of Akin Gump, said in an interview. “We have been blowing and going. Lots of energy deals.”
Shauna Clark, who previously served as the partner-in-charge of Norton Rose Fulbright’s Houston office, echoes those comments.
“We had a strong year in 2017 and we are very bullish on 2018 and 2019,” Clark said. “We’ve done the heavy lifting that needed to be done from the consolidation and we are seeing the benefits.”
To be sure, they are quite different law firms with widely divergent stories. But they definitely belong in a category of their own.
Norton Rose Fulbright
Norton Rose Fulbright boasts 3,339 full-time lawyers practicing in 50 cities worldwide. The firm generated $1.96 billion in revenues in 2017 – a 16 percent increase from a year earlier.
Norton Rose and Houston-based Fulbright & Jaworski essentially merged in 2013. Prior to the combination, Fulbright employed about 800 lawyers and reported about $600 million in revenues.
Until 2017, Norton Rose Fulbright had more lawyers in its Texas offices than any other law firm. Last year, rival Vinson & Elkins took over the top spot in 2017 with exactly one more attorney – 409 v. 408.
Norton Rose Fulbright ranks third in revenue produced by its Texas lawyers. The Texas Lawbook 2017 law firm finance analysis shows that the firm’s Texas offices generated $324.4 million last year, which is a 4 percent increase over 2015.
“The combination with Chadbourne & Parke of New York last year has really benefited the firm and our clients,” said Norton Rose Fulbright partner Richard Krumholz, who leads the firm’s litigation practice in the U.S. “It gave the firm a strength on the corporate side in New York that we did not have previously.”
Krumholz, who offices in Dallas, said the firm is only now starting to witness the results of joining forces with Norton Rose five years ago. He said the firm’s biggest challenge was to get everyone on the same track.
“We’ve spent a lot of time rowing in the same direction and playing nicely in the sandbox and we are experiencing the benefits,” he said. “Terms such as ‘collaboration’ and ‘leveraging’ and ‘platform’ have true meaning and are now having an impact for us.”
Clark, who heads the firm’s labor and employment practice, agreed.
“When large law firms combine, there are folks who do not immediately see where they fit in,” she said. “It takes time and a lot of hard work. Integration doesn’t just happen.”
Norton Rose Fulbright has improved its revenue per lawyer in Texas significantly – from $700,000 in 2015 to $795,000 last year, a 13.6 percent jump. The firm seems well positioned to top $2 billion in revenues this year.
“We recognized that we could not compete in Texas for national clients, especially in bet-the-company litigation, if we did not strengthen our New York and Washington, D.C. practices,” Clark said. “We’ve doubled-down on litigation nationally and we know that is one of our true strengths as a firm.”
Akin Gump
Founded in 1945 in Dallas, Akin Gump is aging well.
Exclusive Texas Lawbook firm financial data shows that Akin Gump is slightly smaller in Texas than it used to be. It now has 185 corporate lawyers in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio – down from 200 two years ago.
But the firm has actually increased the revenue it generates in Texas – from $210.3 million in 2016 to $224.2 million last year.
Akin Gump has significantly increased its revenue per lawyer – from $1.09 million in 2015 to $1.21 million in 2017, an 11 percent hike.
With 20 offices worldwide, Akin Gump raked in $1.039 billion in revenues in 2017, making it clearly one of the elite law firms in the U.S. The firm has added lawyers outside of Texas. It had 981 attorneys firm-wide in 2017, which is 7 percent more than a year earlier.
“It is hard to believe that an office started by Bob Strauss and Richard Gump now has $1 billion in revenue,” said Scott Barnard, who is the managing partner of the firm’s Dallas office. “It was an exciting year in 2017 and we have big things planned for this year, including moving to a new office this fall that will allow us more room to grow.”
Barnard said the firm is seeing increased demand in energy M&A, antitrust matters and international trade issues. They said Akin Gump’s long history and deep experience in trade matters in Washington, D.C. has helped the firm’s Texas clients. They also cite the stabilization of the price of oil and natural gas.
“When oil is above $65 a barrel, it tends to lead to more mergers and acquisitions,” LaFollette said. “We are seeing a lot more activity by private equity.”
LaFollette and Barnard said Akin Gump plans to grow organically and through lateral hiring, but it has learned to do so in a smarter way.
“In hiring laterals, we have to make sure that they are a right fit for the firm and that we are right for them and that they are going to be successful on our platform,” LaFollette said.
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