Jackson Walker Adds Two in Houston
Jackson Walked picked up two new partners to their Houston office with the addition of an immigration lawyer from Foster LLP and debt finance lawyer poached from Kirkland & Ellis.
Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
Jackson Walked picked up two new partners to their Houston office with the addition of an immigration lawyer from Foster LLP and debt finance lawyer poached from Kirkland & Ellis.
Hope Shimabuku, who was a regional director for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the last decade, will lead the firm's sixth U.S. office.
A year or so ago, former U.S. District Judge Alan Albright realized he was ready to make the next — likely the final — move in his long career in the world of patent and intellectual property litigation.
“I started really missing being a trial lawyer and the practice,” Albright told The Texas Lawbook in an interview Tuesday. “I'd watch during trials and lawyers would do something, and I would be old and grumpy and I would text my clerks: ‘They should have done this,’ or ‘That’s stupid.’”
Corporate lawyers in Texas were busier handling mergers, acquisitions and capital market transactions during the first half of 2026 than in any six-month period since 2021 and the tail end of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to new Citi Global Wealth at Work Law Firm Group data released exclusively to The Texas Lawbook. The Citi data shows that Texas businesses’ demand for legal services and lawyer headcount were up slightly, while the legal fees charged by Texas lawyers were up an astonishing double digits.
Stris & Maher announced on Monday its expansion to Dallas with a team of intellectual property lawyers from Skiermont Derby.

Willkie Farr & Gallagher opened its Dallas office just two years ago, initially concentrating on transactional work. Now, the firm is advancing to the next phase by expanding its global litigation capabilities in Texas by hiring Grant Schmidt and Andrew Bean from Hilgers.

A 30-minute coffee between Amy Stewart and Adam Sloustcher went into extra time and turned into a momentous meeting for the two Dallas labor and employment pros.
Dallas-based Ryan Cox is part of a three-lawyer Akin team joining Simpson's Hybrid Capital practice. Cox will lead the firm's Dallas office with Dave Nemecek.
Andrea Stover said it was a hard decision to leave the PEC, but Baker Botts feels like home. “There’s not a better place to be for this [energy regulatory] work than Baker Botts," she said.
William “Bill” Pedersen III has joined Cantey Hanger as a partner in Dallas. The former appellate justice will represent clients in litigation and appellate matters across a broad range of disputes.
James Bedotto, a finance partner, has joined Foley & Lardner in Dallas from Kirkland & Ellis. He joins the firm's finance practice, where he will focus on advising private equity sponsors, financial institutions and corporate borrowers on complex debt finance transactions.
Orsinger, Nelson, Downing & Anderson has promoted family law attorneys Melissa Cowle, Christopher Lambert and Christopher Konneker to partner, expanding the leadership ranks of one of Texas’ largest family law firms.
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