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Jason Loden, an executive compensation and employee benefits partner, has joined Willkie Farr & Gallagher in Dallas from Baker Botts. He will focus his practice on advising companies, private equity funds and nonprofit entities on executive compensation, employee benefits and tax matters.
Richard Potomac, a financial services of counsel, has joined Squire Patton Boggs in Dallas from JPMorgan Chase. He will focus his practice on advising financial institutions and fintech companies on regulatory, transactional and compliance matters, including payments law and technology transactions.
The Texas Lawbook launched the Texas Lawbook 50 and the Corporate Deal Tracker in 2015 — two exclusive databases that calculate the law firm headcounts and revenue in Texas. The CDT documented those law firms’ M&A and capital markets transactions. Simpson Thacher didn’t make the leaderboard of either database in 2015.
A decade later, however, and the elite Wall Street corporate law firm is vaulting up both rankings by increasing its 2025 Texas headcount by 26 percent, its Texas revenue by 34 percent and leaping into the upper echelons of Texas dealmakers.
Eleven of the dozen Texas-based corporate law firms in the Texas Lawbook 50 experienced record revenue and profit in 2025, and the 12th firm did pretty damn well, too.
Citing heavy demand in legal services for real estate, tax, corporate transactions, fundings, commercial litigation and intellectual property disputes, the Texas-based lawyers for the Texas 12 generated $3.58 billion in 2025 — 10.56 percent more than the year before, according to the Lawbook 50.
Lisa Staler Gallerano is returning to private practice after nearly a decade in-house, joining BakerHostetler’s Dallas office as of counsel in the firm’s litigation practice group. Gallerano also will be a member of the firm’s commercial litigation team.
Clifford Chance has named J. Laurens Wilkes a partner in its Houston office and global head of infrastructure disputes.
The firm also appointed Caitlin Gernert as a Houston partner, adding further depth to its infrastructure, energy and construction litigation team.
Brad Jorgensen, a government contracts partner, has joined Kirkland & Ellis in Austin from DLA Piper. He will focus his practice on government contractor focused mergers and acquisitions, compliance counseling and high-stakes disputes.
The Texas Lawbook caught up with Jorgensen about trends he’s seeing in his practice area and more.
Paul, Weiss, Rifkin, Wharton & Garrison announced Monday that its Houston office has added two major deal lawyers: Aisha Lavinier, from Kirkland & Ellis, to its corporate department and Jim Cole, from Latham & Watkins, to tax.
W. Andrew Lanius is joining A&O Shearman in its energy, natural resources and infrastructure practice in Houston and will serve as the head of U.S. energy and infrastructure finance. He comes to A&O from Simpson Thacher & Barlett where he was a partner in that firm's banking and credit practice.
Never in history have Texas corporate lawyers worked so many hours, charged such enormous rates and raked in more revenue and profits than they are right now. The Texas offices of more than three dozen law firms scored record-high revenues in 2025 — and many of them surpassed their old records by tens of millions of dollars, according to new Texas Lawbook 50 data.
Citing increased demand for legal services and healthy hourly rate increases, 48 of the Lawbook 50 law firms generated more revenue and more profits in their Texas operations in 2025 than they did in 2024.
The Texas Lawbook 50 rankings by revenue debuted eight years ago this week. Vinson & Elkins topped the 2017 charts with $484 million in revenue generated by their Texas lawyers. They were followed by Baker Botts, Norton Rose Fulbright, Hunton Andrews Kurth, Haynes Boone and Jackson Walker. Ranked 11th in the chart was a relative newcomer to the state: Kirkland & Ellis, which reported $187 million in Texas revenue — double what the firm had reported a year earlier.
This week, the Lawbook 50 will unveil the top 50 firms that generated the most revenue in their Texas offices. Kirkland is not ranked 11th any longer.
Don Henley and the Eagles could very easily have been writing about Southern California corporate law firms checking into the Hotel California during their constant and seemingly endless, decades-long expansion efforts.
They are all checking into Texas — and with the money they are making here, they will never leave.
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