Corporate law firms should not ignore nor routinely dismiss threats made last week by Texas Republican legislators that they will punish law partners who fund travel for Texas employees who go to other states to have abortions. Leading academic experts who studied the Texas Freedom Caucus letter to Sidley say law firms “should treat this like any other legal challenge” and “throw all the resources and knowledge they have … to analyze any potential legal risk than a collection of legislators who don’t seem to understand what the law is or how the law works.”
Dallas Hispanic Law Foundation Works Toward a More Diverse Field of Law
The Dallas Hispanic Law Foundation last week honored 18 Texas law students with its annual scholarships, bar study grants and internships. The Lawbook reveals this year’s recipients and breaks down why they were chosen.
Texas Commercial Law Firms Merge, Now Exceeds 90 Lawyers
In the largest corporate law firm merger of 2022, Houston-based personal injury defense law firm Lorance Thompson announced Thursday that it has merged with Mayer LLP, a Dallas-based business law boutique. Lorance Thompson’s 22 attorneys officially started June 1 with Mayer, a three-and-a-half-year-old law firm that now has more than 90 lawyers in Dallas, Houston, Albuquerque and Fayetteville.
DBJ: O’Melveny Signs New Dallas Office Lease
The firm’s new lease at Harwood No. 14 will triple its Dallas office footprint.
DBJ: Ross Tower Snags Four Law Firm Leases
One law firm has found a home for its first Dallas office; another has doubled its footprint; and two others have relocated or plan to relocate within the city.
Yvette Ostolaza is ‘First Texan to Lead a Global Law Firm’
Yvette Ostolaza, a first-generation Cuban American who grew up in a working-poor neighborhood in Miami, learned English from Sesame Street and almost didn’t go to college. On Friday, Ostolaza becomes chair of the management committee of Chicago-founded Sidley Austin, a 2,000-lawyer global corporate law firm that reported nearly $2.8 billion in revenue in 2021. She is the first Latina and the first Texan to lead a top 50 global corporate law firm. Ostolaza joined Sidley from Weil Gotshal in 2013 as the leader of the infamous “Seven-Plus-One.” During her time leading Sidley in Dallas, the firm has tripled its Texas lawyer headcount and quadrupled the revenues it generates in the state, according to The Texas Lawbook 50.
Two Firms Race to the Top of the Texas Legal Market
Vinson & Elkins vs. Kirkland & Ellis. One is a storied Houston-based firm with deep connections in the Oil Patch that has been a powerhouse in law, energy and politics for more than a century. The other is a Chicago-founded firm that came to Texas just eight years ago with deep pockets, high profits and an aggressive strategic growth plan. Lawyers for the two corporate law giants often sit across the table on some of the biggest mergers and acquisitions involving energy companies and private equity firms. Both firms are always in the top three of The Texas Lawbook’s Corporate Deal Tracker scorecard of corporate transactions.
Exclusive new Texas Lawbook 50 data shows that Kirkland and V&E lawyers in Texas achieved record highs in revenues and profits in 2021. The runner up in their battle for No. 1 in Texas has to settle for having their best year ever.
Unparalleled Growth, Revenues, Profits – The State of Corporate Law in Texas in 2021
The Texas Lawbook 50 ranking by firm revenues in Texas is out. The financial numbers are staggering. For corporate law firms operating in Texas, 2021 wasn’t just a great year – it was almost certainly the best year ever. Thirty-eight of the 50 law firms achieved record revenues. Seventeen law firms grew Texas revenues by 20 percent or more. Six law firms grew Texas revenues by 40 percent or more.
No law firm had ever come close to generating $600 million in revenue from their Texas operations. In 2021, two surpassed that mark. One skipped right over it and went straight to $725 million. This Texas Lawbook exclusive shows, 2021 will go down in corporate legal history as one for the ages.