Corporate law firms in Texas had another blockbuster year in 2024. Record revenues. Record profits. The top business law firms operating in Texas in 2024 worked more hours for more corporate clients and charged those clients record-high rates — some now topping $2,600 an hour for premium services. The demand for high-dollar elite legal expertise and services in Texas came from companies and private equity firms involved in dealmaking for infrastructure and energy transition projects and businesses engaged in bet-the-company disputes, often battling other businesses or government agencies in court. The Texas Lawbook 50, which tracks the revenue generated by lawyers and law firms operating in Texas, found that 34 of the 50 largest corporate firms achieved record-high revenues in 2024, and an even higher percentage achieved record profits. Eight law firms grew revenue by 25 percent or more.
Lawbook 50 — The Texas Magnificent Seven
Seven corporate law firms operating in Texas witnessed extraordinary growth in 2024. The Texas version of the Magnificent Seven far outpaced their competitors by increasing Texas headcount by 24 percent in 2024 and Texas revenue by an astonishing 42 percent, according to The Texas Lawbook 50, which documents the annual Texas headcount and revenues of business law firms. Three of the Tex Mag Seven were founded in California, three in New York and one in Chicago. All seven firms achieved record-high revenues in 2024.
Kirkland is Texas’ First Billion-Dollar Law Firm
Kirkland & Ellis has become the baseball Hall of Famer Bob Gibson of corporate law firms — fiercely competitive and dominant, despised and envied by opponents and outrageously successful. Entering its second decade with offices in Texas, Kirkland achieved a new high in 2024 that even its Texas leader, Andy Calder, never conceived they could accomplish.
Lawbook 50: Eight Firms — All Texas, All the Time, All Profitable
Kelly Hart, Porter Hedges, Jackson Walker and five other law firms tracked by the Texas Lawbook 50 are 100 percent Texas operations with no offices and no lawyers outside the state. All eight law firms hit record highs last year in revenues and profits, and they are growing revenue and headcount at the same pace as the mega corporate firms that surround them. This gang of eight generated $1.046 billion in revenue in 2024 — up nine percent from the prior year, according to Lawbook 50 research. “We had another record-breaking year in 2024 — beyond what we reasonably expected,” Porter Hedges co-managing partner Joyce Soliman told The Lawbook.
Premium Subscriber Q&A: Kathleen Bertolatus
In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Kathleen Bertolatus discusses the traits she seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with her and more.
Bracewell’s Jeff Vaden Weighs in on White-Collar Trends and their Texas Impact
Texas remains a focal point for white-collar litigation amid shifting priorities and an ever-changing enforcement landscape. The Texas Lawbook caught up with white-collar expert Jeff Vaden, a partner in Bracewell’s Houston office, about trends, the Trump Administration’s priorities, what they could mean for Texas and more.
Kathryn Hand Achieves a Host of Early Successes at Enbridge
Kathryn Hand’s first job out of college in 2013 was, in her words, “not-so-great — it felt mindless to me. I knew I needed a career that was going to be challenging,” she told The Texas Lawbook.
In the dozen years since, Hand obtained her law degree, spent five years getting trial experience and has spent the past two years scoring litigation achievements as senior counsel for litigation at Canada-based midstream energy giant Enbridge, including winning a case at the Ohio Supreme Court in which hundreds of millions of dollars were at stake. Citing her remarkable achievements in such a short time, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook have named Hand as one of two finalists for the 2025 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Rookie of the Year.
Premium Subscriber Q&A: Kathryn Hand
In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Kathryn Hand discusses the traits she seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with her and more.
Cheniere AGC Latest In-House Lawyer Going Back to Practice
Victoria Salem left her liquified natural gas law practice at Latham & Watkins in London in June 2015 to join the corporate legal department at Occidental Petroleum handling major transactions. Today, Salem joins a growing number of in-house lawyers rejoining law firms by becoming the newest partner in the Houston office of the Magic Circle firm Clifford Chance.
Premium Subscriber Q&A: Cheryl-Lynne Davis and Teresa Jones
In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Cheryl-Lynne Davis and Teresa Jones share about Black Women in Energy and Environmental Law’s big successes and opportunities for growth. Texas Lawbook: What