Fueled by record-high contingency fee collections, significant increases in hourly rates and healthy client demand for complex commercial litigation and corporate transactional work, the largest business law firms in Texas grew revenues to more than $9 billion, according to new Texas Lawbook 50 data. Forty-three of the top 50 corporate law firms posted gains, according to the Lawbook 50, which ranks firms on revenues generated by attorneys based in Texas.

Six of the firms achieved increases of $30 million or more, and 18 saw $10 million increases. Only seven firms on the list recorded revenue declines. Thirty-five firms hit record highs in 2023. The Top 10 welcomed two newcomers in 2023 — a firm that soared thanks to a sudden gusher of cash from contingency fee court victories that were years in the making and a firm that has steadily climbed in the rankings since 2019 on a combination of litigation and M&A dealmaking.

Gibson Dunn faced a strategic crisis in late 2010: Firm leaders had serious doubts about the viability of its Texas operation. Shuttering the Dallas office was a real possibility. And then, the Texas law gods smiled upon the LA-founded corporate law firm. More than a dozen years since, Gibson Dunn has sextupled the number of lawyers it has in Texas and increased revenues from those Texas attorneys by 10 times.

During the past two years, the firm has been on a Texas-sized hiring spree — growing from 117 attorneys to 179. This year, the firm is expecting its largest class of Texas summer associates and its largest class of first-year hires. Revenues and profits have soared. This is the story about how it happened.