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Twenty-two corporate law firms operating in Texas have announced their partner promotions — 112 in all — for the 2024-25 season. Four more firms announced their new partnership ranks.
Every successful law firm eventually sees the departure of an influential partner or other key member for one reason or another. Beyond the severed relationships and financial implications, firms must consider and address their key audiences to preserve meaningful external and internal relationships.
The firms have announced their new partnership classes for 2025, which includes 20 lawyers in Texas. So far, 18 corporate law firms have announced the names of 98 new partners.
BakerHostetler announced Tuesday that it will kick off 2025 in style by opening its 18th office nationwide and its third in Texas, which will include adding ten transactional lawyers from Locke Lord, including longtime partner Cynthia Bast, who will lead the new office.
For three decades, Hilda Galvan has established herself as one of the most successful IP litigators in the U.S. and a highly respected leader in the legal profession. She has won huge cases for IBM, Charles Schwab, OnStar, Motorola and Compass Bank. After nearly three decades at global legal giant Jones Day — including a decade as the managing partner of its Dallas office — Galvan has decided to step away to “seek new opportunities to make an impact.”
"I plan to dedicate my efforts to consulting with technology startups, joining corporate boards and deepening my involvement in nonprofit boards and community engagement," Galvan told The Texas Lawbook. "This allows me to leverage my experience and passion in ways that will drive meaningful change.”
The Dallas-based firm announced Thursday that it is promoting 15 lawyers to partner — nine of them in Texas — in eight different offices, including Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio. It is the second largest class of partner promotions in the firm’s history.
Weil and AZA are the 12th and 13th law firms in Texas to release their new partner list, bringing the total number of newly minted partners this cycle to 69.
Great news moms: If you raised young lawyers, you should expect expensive presents from your daughters and sons this Christmas. A dozen large corporate law firms operating in Texas have informed their associates that they will be receiving year-end bonuses ranging from $21,000 for first-year lawyers to $140,000 for associates in their eighth year, which will be up for partner next year. Combined with recent hikes in base salaries, the most senior associates this year will be paid more than $575,000. Two Houston-based firms — Baker Botts and AZA — are the most recent business-focused firms to announce year-end bonuses for the associates it employs in its seven U.S. offices. Legal analysts say that the bonuses paid to just those 1,600 associates will cost their respective law firms an estimated $80 million.
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