Three corporate law firms operating in Texas – Baker Botts, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Simpson Thacher – have joined more than a half-dozen other firms that are increasing the amount they pay associates. The Texas Lawbook will provide additional tales as they become available.
Akin Gump, Norton Rose Fulbright, Skadden Increase Associate Comp
More law firms that operate in Texas have announced that they are increasing associate salaries. A half-dozen other firms say they expect to follow suit in the next week. The Texas Lawbook has details.
V&E Increases First-Year Associate Salaries to $202,500
Houston-based Vinson & Elkins became the first Texas corporate law firm to hike compensation for younger attorneys. Other firms are expected to follow. Senior associates will now make about a half-million-dollars this year. The Texas Lawbook has the details.
O’Melveny Opens in Austin
The Los Angeles-founded law firm, which reported $835 million in 2020 revenues, is breaking into the Texas market with four energy lawyers from Thompson & Knight.
Scenes from the 2020 DFW/ACC Corporate Counsel Awards
Scenes from the 2020 DFW/ACC Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards held June 3, 2021 at the George W. Bush Presidential Center.
Big Winners at DFW Corporate Counsel Awards: Match, American Airlines, Chuck E. Cheese, Methodist Health, Toyota, Southwest Airlines and Susan G. Komen
In the first major in-person legal event since the advent of the pandemic, the DFW Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel and The Texas Lawbook gathered with some of the top legal talent in Texas at the George W. Bush Institute to honor the best in-house work during an exceptionally difficult year. The Lawbook’s founder Mark Curriden has all the results of the 2020 DFW Corporate Counsel Awards.
And be sure to Click Here to check out our gallery of the event.
Kate Hayashi Helps American Airlines Navigate an Extraordinary Year
American Airlines Associate GC Kate Hayashi has faced some challenges during the past 25 years – TWA’s bankruptcy, TWA’s acquisition by American Airlines, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that involved two American jetliners, American’s bankruptcy and restructuring and American’s merger with U.S. Airways. But 2020 was a year unlike any other. But those challenges are why she is one of the most experienced lawyers in the airline industry today.
Zix’s Noah Webster and ‘Magical Creativity’
While most companies battened down the hatches in 2020 in order to weather the Covid-19 pandemic, Dallas-based global cloud-based cybersecurity and productivity solutions company Zix Corporation went searching for opportunities. “We decided that the most resilient businesses continue to grow and continue to build to grow, even under difficult or unusual situations,” said Zix Noah Webster CLO. Last July, Zix discovered the perfect acquisition opportunity – an Israeli-owned company called CloudAlly that focuses on cloud-based data backup and recovery for businesses.
Jason Shyung: Keeping Southwest in the Air During Turbulent Times
Southwest Airlines attorney Jason Shyung remembers his first trial. He met his client – the owner of a small Sherman construction company being wrongly sued by an employee – only two weeks prior to trial. “He could have lost everything,” Shyung said. But Shyung and another young lawyer prevailed in federal court. Six years later, Southwest Airlines called on Shyung in its own potentially devastating crisis, and the young lawyer again prevailed. This is his story.
Meredith Bjorck and Her ‘Super Powers’
Meredith Bjorck had a seat at the executive table at HMS for five years and she made the most of it. She resolved all significant existing litigation within the first two years. The company’s revenue increased more than 30%, net income climbed more than 300% and the company’s stock price climbed more than 200%. Last winter, in the middle of Covid, Bjork led the deal team in the $3.4 billion sale of HMS. But what a five years it was.
