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.
Baker & Hostetler Opens 16-Lawyer Dallas Office
The Cleveland-based firm has launched its second Texas office with attorneys from Winston & Strawn, Kirkland & Ellis, Baker Botts, Barnes & Thornburg and Wick Phillips.
Expert: TX Law Firms Face Financial Hits, Opportunities in Crisis
Corporate law firms in Texas are going to take a financial hit as a result of the one-two punch of the coronavirus and plunging oil prices, according to a law firm management expert. The crisis is also an opportunity for firm leaders to make significant changes, including giving underperforming partners the boot.
Challenges to Mainstreaming ESG in Financial Markets
Financial institutions have more tools at their disposal to effect change by driving environmentally conscious behavior across industries, while also meeting board and investor demands for increased volumes of sustainability-driven lending. The net effect of this paradigm shift will result in new sources of capital for environmentally beneficial projects and activities. This article explains why and how.
St. Louis Firm Expands into Texas with Four Dallas Litigators
Thompson Coburn has opened its sixth office nationwide with partners from Thompson & Knight and Hedrick Kring. The firm aims to grow to 40-plus lawyers over the next few years.