AKK at 115: A Legendary Texas Firm Ponders Its Past and Its Future

In 1902, two attorneys opened a small law firm called Andrews & Ball in Houston. Its goal, in the words of co-founder Frank Andrews: “That the firm would have always the full confidence of clients and the trust of all people.”

The firm began representing railroads, including the new Gulf Coast Lines, which was reorganized in 1917 with Andrews as receiver and later as chairman. They represented banks, including newly formed Bankers Trust Co., creating long lasting ties with financier Jesse H. Jones, as well as Hughes Tool Co., formed by wildcatter Howard Hughes—the inventor of the rotary drill bit—in 1914.