• Subscribe
  • Log In
  • Sign up for email updates
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Texas Lawbook

Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury

  • Appellate
  • Bankruptcy
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Corporate Deal Tracker
  • GCs/Corp. Legal Depts.
  • Firm Management
  • White-Collar/Regulatory
  • Pro Bono/Public Service/D&I

Mark Curriden & Richard Alm

Texas Lawbook 50: Corporate Firms Topped $9B in Texas Revenues in 2023

Fueled by record-high contingency fee collections, significant increases in hourly rates and healthy client demand for complex commercial litigation and corporate transactional work, the largest business law firms in Texas grew revenues to more than $9 billion, according to new Texas Lawbook 50 data. Forty-three of the top 50 corporate law firms posted gains, according to the Lawbook 50, which ranks firms on revenues generated by attorneys based in Texas.

Six of the firms achieved increases of $30 million or more, and 18 saw $10 million increases. Only seven firms on the list recorded revenue declines. Thirty-five firms hit record highs in 2023. The Top 10 welcomed two newcomers in 2023 — a firm that soared thanks to a sudden gusher of cash from contingency fee court victories that were years in the making and a firm that has steadily climbed in the rankings since 2019 on a combination of litigation and M&A dealmaking.

June 3, 2024 Mark Curriden & Richard Alm

Texas Lawbook 50: A New No. 1 for Headcounts and a Three-way Tie for 2nd

On an FTE basis, the Texas Lawbook 50 firms increased lawyer employment by 2.6 percent. The new Lawbook 50 extends a winning streak that began with a net-hiring rush in 2019, took a year off for the pandemic in 2020, then roared back even stronger in the past two years. From 2010 to 2018, the annual headcount was essentially flat, with five up years offset by four down ones. However, the new data may point to a downshifting in the law firm labor market after record gains of 301 lawyers in 2021 and 287 in 2022.

In 2023, 29 firms increased headcounts, 20 firms employed fewer lawyers and one firm stayed even. A shakeup at the top of the Lawbook 50 rankings is the result of shifting the way the Lawbook 50 calculates headcounts to a method used by other legal publications.

May 2, 2024 Mark Curriden & Richard Alm

Texas Legacy Firms Finding Footing at Home

With a 16 percent jump in 2022 revenues, Jackson Walker is leading a resurgence of Texas-based firms that are growing revenues and increasing profits in their Texas operations. Fifteen of the 50 corporate law firms in the Texas Lawbook 50 are headquartered in Texas — down from 39 a decade ago. Those 15 Texas legacy firms generated $5.83 billion in 2022 — $3.37 billion from their Texas operations.

Twelve of the 15 Texas-headquartered firms grew revenues in 2022. Four firms increased year-over-year Texas revenues by more than 10 percent. Five additional Texas legacy firms reported annual revenue increases in their Texas offices by five percent or more. More than 42 percent of the revenue generated by Texas legacy firms came from their out-of-state operations. The Texas Lawbook has a full analysis.

June 26, 2023 Mark Curriden & Richard Alm

Two Firms Race to the Top of the Texas Legal Market

Vinson & Elkins vs. Kirkland & Ellis. One is a storied Houston-based firm with deep connections in the Oil Patch that has been a powerhouse in law, energy and politics for more than a century. The other is a Chicago-founded firm that came to Texas just eight years ago with deep pockets, high profits and an aggressive strategic growth plan. Lawyers for the two corporate law giants often sit across the table on some of the biggest mergers and acquisitions involving energy companies and private equity firms. Both firms are always in the top three of The Texas Lawbook's Corporate Deal Tracker scorecard of corporate transactions.

Exclusive new Texas Lawbook 50 data shows that Kirkland and V&E lawyers in Texas achieved record highs in revenues and profits in 2021. The runner up in their battle for No. 1 in Texas has to settle for having their best year ever.

April 25, 2022 Mark Curriden & Richard Alm

‘Feeding Frenzy’ – Texas Corporate Law’s Great Game of Musical Chairs Hits New Heights

Corporate law firms operating in Texas went on a hiring spree in 2021, using six-digit signing bonuses, promises of faster promotions to partner and two hikes in base pay in a high-stakes race to build the staffs needed to meet rising client demand for legal work. The result was the largest – and most expensive – game of musical chairs ever witnessed among the biggest corporate firms in Texas.

Correction: The previous version of this article reported the wrong lawyer count numbers for Kirkland & Ellis. The firm actually grew from 290 Texas lawyers in 2020 to 371 last year. The Lawbook apologizes for this error.

April 21, 2022 Mark Curriden & Richard Alm

Three Middle-Market Law Firms, One Record-Setting Year in Texas Revenues

Three middle-market law firms achieved record revenues and profits in 2021. All three jumped above the $700,000 mark for revenue per lawyer. All three predict 2022 will be even better ― so all three are in expansion mode and looking to grow headcount. And none of the three sees any advantage in merging with an out-of-state law firm. Legal industry analysts say Munsch Hardt, Gray Reed and Munck Wilson sit in a strategic sweet spot.

April 19, 2022 Mark Curriden & Richard Alm

Primary Sidebar

Features

  • Stakeholder GC Jonathan Ellis ‘Turns Adversity into Opportunity’ - Jonathan Ellis traces his desire to be a lawyer to the third grade when his mother told him about a former landlord who refused to refund her a $100 deposit under false pretenses. "This was a time in her life when $100 was life-changing money," he said. But a lawyer who employed his mom as a bookkeeper wrote a letter to the landlord who quickly refunded the money. That's when he realized lawyers have influence. Three decades later, Ellis is the general counsel of San Antonio-headquartered Stakeholder Midstream, which focuses on in-field natural gas and oil gathering as well as transportation and storage.

    “Jonathan has faced numerous high-pressure challenges, which has frequently required him to manage multiple projects at once using outside counsel from different law firms,” said Clifford Chance partner Todd Lowther.

    The Association of Corporate Counsel’s San Antonio Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are awarding the 2025 San Antonio Corporate Counsel Award for General Counsel of the Year for a Solo Legal Department to Ellis.
    October 21, 2025Mark Curriden
  • Lee Cusenbary’s ‘Career Shows How Much One Person Can Do to Make a Difference in a Community’ - Lee Cusenbary is a legend in the Texas business and legal communities. His name and reputation will forever be connected to elevating ethics — so much so that the Association of Corporate Counsel San Antonio Chapter named its highest honor after him. During 17 years as the GC at Mission Pharmacal, Cusenbary successfully led the San Antonio company through several complex multidistrict litigation cases, highly-technical patent infringement disputes, and guided it through numerous acquisitions and divestitures.

    "Lee has left a lasting mark on the in-house counsel community, the San Antonio legal profession and the broader public," said Dykema member Jeffrey Gifford. "Lee made his career about being more than an excellent corporate counsel. He also made it about building a culture of ethics and of giving back.”

    ACC San Antonio and The Texas Lawbook are awarding Cusenbary the 2025 San Antonio Corporate Counsel Award for Lifetime Achievement.
    October 20, 2025Mark Curriden

GCs, Lawyers & Firms

  • Erin Hopkins: Another Veteran Paul Hastings Hire - Erin Hopkins, a veteran energy transactions partner at Baker Botts, is moving to the Houston office of Paul Hastings, his new law firm announced Tuesday. Hopkins brings with him 15 years of experience in energy and renewables transactions.
  • Midwest Law Firm with Texas Offices Merges with Northeast Firm
  • White & Case Adds Energy M&A Dealmaker in Houston
  • Norton Rose Hires Veteran Finance Partner from Winston & Strawn
  • Invitation Homes Selects Former SEC Associate Director as VP of Litigation and Investigations
  • Houston Trial Firm Boosts Associate Salaries
  • SALSA Names New Executive Director
  • New GE Vernova GC of Wind Energy Dionne Hamilton: ‘We’re Working to Make the World a Better Place’
  • Ross & Smith Announces Partnership with Full-Service Maryland Firm
  • Martin Sosland, Candice Carson Join Vartabedian Hester
More GCs, Lawyers & Firms

Lawyers in the News

Hover right to see full list

Chip Babcock
Chris Bankler
Jamie B. Beaber
David J. Beck
Bill Benitez
Jessica Berkowitz
Brent Bernell
Tyler Bexley
Shawn Blackburn
Michael Blankenship
Jeffrey Brill
Anita Brown
Ian Brown
Stuart Campbell
Jack Chadderdon
Paul Clement
Erin Nealy Cox
Scott Craig
Kevin Crews
Shamus Crosby
Hannah M. Crowe
Geoffrey Culbertson
Sean Cunningham
John Daywalt
Rajiv Dharnidharka
James Ducayet
Brian K. Erickson
Scott Everett
Weiru Fang
Elizabeth Freeman
Tad Freese
Melanie Fry
Geoff Gannaway
Paul Genender
John J. Gilluly III
Rodney Gilstrap
Andrew Gorham
John Greer
Joseph Grinstein
Matthew Haddad
Colleen Haile
Breen Haire
Shahmeer Halepota
Dionne Hamilton
Troy Harder
Rusty Hardin
Michael Hawes
Nathan Hecht
Stephen Hessler
Hillary Holmes
Marc Jaffe
Lauren Jenkins
David Jones
Atma Kabad
Susan Kennedy
David Kinder
Justin King
Allan Kirk
Melanie Koltermann
Doug Kubehl
Joe Laurel
Sang Lee
Steven Lockhart
Arthur Lotz
Barbara Lynn
Mike Lynn
Nora McGuffey
Stephanie McPhail
Mark Melton
Jeri Leigh Miller
Kimberly A. Moore
Mark Moore
Shelby Morgan
Alia Moses
Davis Mosmeyer III
Darren Nicholson
Eamon Nolan
Ivy Nowinski
Holland O’Neil
George Padis
Ian Peck
Jonathan Platt
Chase Proctor
Doug Rayburn
Joel Reese
Kevin Richardson
Andrew Rodheim
Seth Rubinson
Mazin Sbaiti
Ana Sanchez
Vincenzo Santini
Jeffrey Scharfstein
Robert Schroeder III
Scott Seidel
Steven Sexton
Ahmed Sidik
Robert Slovak
Emily Smith
Melissa R. Smith
Jonathon Soler
Robert Soza
Lande Spottswood
Craig Stanfield
Justin Stolte
Josh Teahen
Kelly Tidwell
Linda Tieh
Rafael B. de Toledo
Monica Uddin
Rhett Van Syoc
Rahul Vashi
Gabe Vazquez
Patrick Venter
Sarah Walden
Kandace Walter
Kyle Watson
Mikell Alan West
Noël Wise
Meng Xi

Firms in the News

Hover right to show full list

AZA
Baker Botts
The Bandas Law Firm
Beck Redden
Boies Schiller Flexner
Bracewell
Bradley Arant
Burns Charest
Clement & Murphy
Condon & Forsyth
DLA Piper
Dykema
Foley & Lardner
Gibson Dunn
Gillam & Smith
Haynes Boone
Holland & Knight
Jackson Walker
King & Spalding
Kirkland & Ellis
Latham & Watkins
Lynn Pinker
Mayer Brown
MoloLamken
Pamela Welch PLLC
Patton Tidwell Culbertson
Paul Hastings
Porter Hedges
The Probus Law Firm
Reese Marketos
Rusty Hardin & Associates
Sbaiti & Company
Sidley Austin
Simpson Thacher
Skadden
Squire Patton Boggs
Sullivan & Cromwell
Susman Godfrey
Troutman Pepper Locke
Vinson & Elkins
Weil
Willkie
Winston & Strawn

Footer

Who We Are

  • About Us
  • Our Team
  • Contact Us
  • Submit a News Tip

Stay Connected

  • Sign up for email updates
  • Article Submission Guidelines
  • Premium Subscriber Editorial Calendar

Our Partners

  • The Dallas Morning News
The Texas Lawbook logo

1409 Botham Jean Blvd.
Unit 811
Dallas, TX 75215

214.232.6783

© Copyright 2025 The Texas Lawbook
The content on this website is protected under federal Copyright laws. Any use without the consent of The Texas Lawbook is prohibited.