Lawyer Rates in Texas Rocket Up – $1,000 an Hour is in the Rear-view Mirror

Hundreds of Texas corporations received notices this year from their outside lawyers that their hourly rates were going up. Dozens of Texas lawyers who handle the most complex, bet-the-company legal matters now charge their business clients in excess of $1,000 an hour – a rate that was unheard of only a few years ago. There are more than 200 other Texas business lawyers who tout an hourly rate between $900 and $995. Who are these $1,000 an hour lawyers and how do they justify their rates? Click and find out.

June 3, 2015 Mark Curriden

Munsch Hardt Turns 30 and has a Story to Tell

In March 1985, six fourth year associates at Winstead decided to start their own firm. They had no clients, no management experience and minimal business development training. “Just about any law firm consultant would say that’s crazy and stupid,” says Dallas business litigator Steven Harr. At a time when most smaller middle market full service law firms are struggling for survival or seeking a merger, Munsch Hardt has witnessed steady growth by creating a niche in the Texas legal market.

May 25, 2015 Mark Curriden

Texas Law Firms Fight for Talent, Revenues and Survival

Despite record revenues and profits, the Texas legal market is in turmoil. Even as elite law firms experience phenomenal growth in revenues and profits, many large, full service Texas law firms struggle to tread water and could face major restructuring or even extinction. There's a fierce battle over talent. Law firms that pay the most get the best lawyers. The best talent gets the best clients. The best clients pay the highest rates, which leads to greater revenues and profits. “The deck has been completely reshuffled in Texas,” said Kent Zimmerman with Zeughauser Group. “In a short amount of time, the leaderboard has changed significantly.” The Texas Lawbook interviewed more than two-dozen legal industry insiders in an in-depth examination of the state's business law marketplace.

May 14, 2015 Mark Curriden

SMU, UT and UH Lead in Law Graduate Job Placements

Law firms are hiring more Texas law school graduates than they did at the end of the Great Recession five years ago, but new statistics suggest that the legal industry’s economic recovery has gone flat or possibly even slowed during the past two years.

May 5, 2015 Natalie Posgate

Norton Rose Fulbright Appoints Ken Stewart to Global Chair Position

Firm names Dallas corporate lawyer, one of the truly nice guy lawyers, to ambassadorial leadership role.

April 29, 2015 Mark Curriden

Texas Legal Market Expands and Fragments as Rich Firms get Richer

Texas lawyers who representing businesses generated a record amount of revenues in 2014. A new survey by The Texas Lawbook shows that business lawyers saw their workload increase significantly for the first time in years. The biggest revenue jumps were recorded by elite and specialty law firms, while upper middle market legal shops face stagnation and uncertainty. Legal experts say that the Texas legal market is increasingly becoming a world of the "haves" and the "have nots." Nearly 80 percent of Texas law firm leaders said they believe 2015 financials will be as good, or even better than 2014, despite obvious challenges in the oil patch. Read the extensive article for all the details.

April 24, 2015 Mark Curriden

Gruber Hurst & Elrod Law Firms Combine

Two prominent Dallas business litigation boutiques – Gruber Hurst Johansen Hail Shank and Elrod – are expected to announce Wednesday that they are merging their law practices. The combined law firm will boast 30 lawyers, making it one of the largest commercial litigation-only law firms in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

March 31, 2015 Mark Curriden

Cox Smith Merges with Dykema

After a yearlong business romance, the law firms from San Antonio and Detroit announced Monday they are combining to become Dykema Cox Smith, a 450-lawyer firm that has 140 attorneys in Texas. “This merger was purely driven by the firms and our people, not by consultants,” Cox Smith Managing Counsel Deborah Williamson said. The Texas Lawbook has full details about how merger talks started and progressed. Hint: Dallas partner Bill Finklestein played a key role.

March 30, 2015 Mark Curriden

Stay Small or Merge Big: My Law Firm’s Story

In 1984, I started my own commercial law firm with just a secretary. Over 30 years, it grew to 18 lawyers thanks to our model of being a haven for large-firm refugees with an entrepreneurial spirit. Suddenly, we were besieged by national law firms seeking a merger. How in the world did I find myself here? This is my law firm's story.

February 18, 2015 Mark Curriden

TX-Based Firms Begin Paying Associate Bonuses

V&E’s bonus amounts, the first from a large Texas-based law firm to be in the public domain, match if not exceed most national or New York law firms that have announced their numbers already.

January 28, 2015 Mark Curriden

Haynes and Boone Makes Mile High Move

Firm Managing Partner Tim Powers says Denver is the second most important market in the energy industry.

January 28, 2015 Mark Curriden

10 Quick Tips to Keeping In-House Counsel Happy

McGill was in the corporate legal department at JC Penney and HMS Holdings, where she hired and managed outside counsel. In this article, she shares insights and experiences about the important relationship between in-house and outside counsel.

January 19, 2015 Mark Curriden