Lawyer headcount for corporate law firms operating in Texas was stagnant for the past decade. But new Texas Lawbook 50 data shows that those same firms went on a relative hiring spree in 2019, adding more attorneys last year than they had during the previous four years combined. Analysts say the long-awaited growth occurred at exactly the wrong time. The Texas Lawbook has all the stats and comments.
Steve Susman Struggling After Freak Cycling Accident
“He’s unconscious, but there are some promising signs,” says Susman Godfrey managing partner Neal Manne. “He’s got movement on both sides of his body, to the extent there’s some movement of arms and legs on both sides. That’s a good thing when you have a brain injury, obviously.”
Updated – COVID-19 and Texas Bar Exam Options: A First-Year Lawyer’s Take
On Wednesday, the Texas Supreme Court issued an order regarding the July bar exam. As the COVID-19 situation continues to unfold, Texas should continue to evaluate all available options, including those beyond the traditional bar exam process. Jenae Ward, a first-year associate at Weil, weighs in.
SCOTX a la Mode: Rejects Emergency Challenge to Local COVID-19 Restrictions
The court rejected the effort by a group of protestors to curb the coronavirus curbs by filing directly to the state’s highest court. In rejecting
In Re Salon a La Mode, et al. the court showed sympathy for both sides, but ordered them to begin their legal protest with the lower courts.
Law Firm Marketing Expert: Business Development during COVID-19 is a Delicate Balance
Some law firms have intensified their outreach efforts by trumpeting the myriad of legal issues on which they can help clients during this crisis. Are they seizing opportunities or distastefully capitalizing on a global pandemic? Prominent corporate law firm marketing expert Susan Peters says the best law firm business development efforts in bad times resemble those in good times: anticipate clients’ concerns and show how the firm can help.
Thompson & Knight Adds Three IP Partners
Even the coronavirus and stay-at-home orders cannot contain the ever-hot Texas lateral market. Thompson & Knight announced Monday that three intellectual property trial lawyers – Phillip Philbin, Jamie McDole and Michael Karson – have joined the firm’s Dallas office as partners.
Legal Industry Experts: Law Firms Should Start Making Cuts Now
Gibson Dunn managing partner Rob Walters, fresh out of the hospital after testing positive with the coronavirus, has a unique perspective on the potential impact that COVID-19 and cheap oil prices could have on Texas law firms: “This will affect the entire legal industry [and] prove fatal for some fine businesses and law firms.”
Legal industry experts say corporate law firms across Texas should be more worried than they appear to be. Many need to cancel summer associate programs, tell new lawyers that they may not be needed this fall, start reductions in associate salaries and hold back partner draws. “It could get very bad and the Texas legal market will take an even bigger hit than others,” says an Altman Weil analyst. The Texas Lawbook provides an exclusive, in-depth report.
Dallas Trial Lawyer Trey Cox Jumps to Gibson Dunn
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher is expected to announce that Trey Cox, a name partner at Lynn Pinker Cox & Hurst, is joining the firm as a partner in its trial section. Cox, who is married to Northern District of Texas U.S. Attorney Erin Cox, was a lead lawyer representing Purdue Pharma in litigation over the opioid epidemic in Oklahoma and had been with the Lynn Pinker law firm for 23 years.
COVID-19 has Law Firms Considering Changes to Summer Associate Programs
Corporate law firm leaders across Texas are scrambling to figure out what to tell the hundreds of increasingly nervous law students scheduled to participate in summer associate programs scheduled to start in about six weeks. Sidley is delaying its summer clerks arrival for two weeks. Other firms are not sure.
All in a Day’s Work from Home: How to Successfully WFH
With President Trump extending the social distancing guidelines through at least the end of April, millions of Americans will continue adjusting to a work-from-home reality for the foreseeable future. Jason Mueller and Stevin George of Sheppard Mullin share tips that can help you transition to this new normal.