Corp. Deal Tracker: M&A Firm Leaderboard Played Musical Chairs in 2016

© 2017 The Texas Lawbook. By Natalie Posgate (March 27) – For corporate legal work among Texas-based lawyers, 2016 was neither the best nor the worst of times. Some law firms thrived, while others simply survived. The dramatic evolution of the Texas M&A legal market continued. But at the same time, this is Texas, where some things never change. M&A experts predict 2017 is going to bring more of the same, including more deal activity than during the past two years. New data from The Texas Lawbook’s Corporate Deal Tracker, which collects all M&A deals handled by lawyers based in Texas, shows that 16 of the top 25 corporate legal practices in Texas witnessed a significant increase in the number of mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures they handled in 2016 compared to the year before. The Corporate Deal Tracker shows that about half of the top 25 law firms saw the number of deals handled by their Texas-based lawyers increase by 10 percent or more in 2016. One-fourth of the law firms worked on roughly the same number of transactions as they did in 2015. The remaining six law firms would not call 2016 a stellar deal year. Fluctuations…