Planning for Growth in a Contracting Economy
Without a doubt, all law firms will eventually be tested on their ability to survive a contracting economy. Not all firms will pass the test.
Texas Legal Market Free Agency Continues with $5M to $13M Annual Comp Offers
The number of Texas law partners who moved their practice to a new firm during 2024 hit record highs and the trend seems to be continuing in 2025. And for a growing percentage of the lateral moves, this was their second or third jump in recent years. Texas Lawbook data shows that 20 percent more partners at business and litigation practices in Texas jumped to a competitor last year. Three law firms added 10 or more lateral partners in 2024. Twenty-two firms hired five or more lateral partners. Three law firms lost 10 or more partners to competitors in 2024. The Lawbook examines the data and the individual specific lateral moves for trends.
Relocate, Reincorporate, Relax: Haynes Boone’s New Practice Group Specializes in Texas Moves
Haynes Boone has officially established a Texas Corporate Governance Practice Group to assist companies with the legal and operational challenges of relocating or reincorporating in the Lone Star State. The Dallas-based firm aims to leverage its experience and connections, especially as the Texas Stock Exchange gains traction and the NYSE plans to follow suit. The new group, led by veteran partners, will guide businesses considering a move to Texas on compliance, governance, taxes, economic development and more.
New Leadership for Weil Gotshal in Dallas
The elite Wall Street law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges announced leadership changes in its Dallas offices on Wednesday.
Kane Russell Coleman Logan Expands Its Practice to Austin
Kane Russell Coleman Logan announced on Tuesday that it has expanded its presence in Texas by establishing a new office in Austin.
SBSB Eastham Expands Admiralty and Maritime Practice with New Galveston Office
In the last six months, Schouest, Bamdas, Soshea, BenMaier & Eastham has opened offices in two Texas port cities, Corpus Christi and now Galveston.
Latham’s Gamechanging 15 Years in Texas: How The Firm’s Houston Office Wrote the Playbook for National Firms to Storm the State
The Houston office of Latham & Watkins had not been open for a year when Ryan Maierson experienced a significant realization. The office opened in February 2010, and as the year progressed, he and the other partners at Baker Botts began to marvel at how easily this "non-native" firm from Los Angeles integrated itself into Texas's established transactional law environment.
Other national firms had previously entered the Texas market. However, with Latham — the second most profitable law firm in the world — something felt different. In less than a year, Latham had achieved what no other national firm had managed to do: it instilled a sense of fear in the long-established Texas firms that had previously dominated corporate law in the Lone Star State.
Fifteen years later, this is the story of how Latham changed the game in Texas.
Citi — Big Law in Texas Had Strong 2024, and 2025 Looks Even Better
The bad news for Texas-based corporate law firms is that revenues, profits per partner and demand for legal services significantly trailed their out-of-state competitors during 2024, according to new Citi Law Firm Group data provided Monday to The Texas Lawbook. But the good news is that those outside national law firms — including Kirkland & Ellis, Gibson Dunn, Latham & Watkins and Sidley — growing faster and richer now make up about 60 percent of the Texas corporate legal market, according to the Texas Lawbook 50 report for 2024.
Are You a Go-Getter Lawyer?
To be a success in the legal profession hinges much more on how you work than where you work. Taking ownership of your own success and not expecting someone else to provide it for you is every bit as important today as it was 40 years ago. But what the series revealed is that different generations have a different sense of what go-getting looks like today.
Special Edition of P.S. — Remembering Kirkland’s Olivia Clarke and ‘Humor Beats Cancer’
The world of corporate law lost someone special last week. Olivia Clarke was not a lawyer. She was not a judge. She was not a general counsel. Olivia was the communications director at Kirkland & Ellis. She also was a former reporter and editor at the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. She knew her lawyers and firm and she equally knew our work and business. She was a strong advocate for her colleagues at the world’s largest corporate law firm, but lawyers inside Kirkland say she was equally an advocate pushing them to be open with journalists.
After a decade-long battle with cancer, Olivia died last week. She was only 46. “Olivia was incredibly capable and unfailingly thoughtful,” Texas Lawbook senior editor Allen Pusey said Monday.
Enoch Kever Combining with Butler Snow
Butler Snow announced Wednesday that it has expanded the firm’s Austin office with the addition of 14 attorneys, all of whom were at Enoch Kever.
2024-25 Partner Ranks Grow as 10 More Firms Reveal Texas Promotions
The wave of partnership promotions continues as 10 more law firms have announced Texas additions to their respective 2024-25 partnership classes.