© 2018 The Texas Lawbook.
By Mark Curriden
(April 16) – Prominent Dallas trial lawyer Mike Gruber, who has led his own litigation boutique for a dozen years and represents the city of Dallas in high-profile disputes, is joining Dorsey & Whitney, a 106-year-old law firm founded in Minnesota.
Gruber, who founded Gruber Hail Johansen Shank in 2006, said that he chose to join Dorsey, a national law firm with 20 offices and more than 520 lawyers, because “its tremendous resources will help me expand my practice and take it to the next level.”
The partners at Gruber Hail said that they mutually decided a few months ago that the time had come for them to go their separate ways. The partners said they remain good friends. The other partners say they expect to announce their moves in the next few days.
Dorsey opened its Dallas outpost in March 2017. Gruber is the 22nd lawyer to join the office.
“We’ve been interested in growing our Dallas office and Mike has a great reputation as a trial lawyer and is a perfect fit for us,” Dorsey Managing Partner Ken Cutler told The Texas Lawbook. “We want lawyers who like to work across offices, who don’t have sharp elbows and who are committed to public service and the community.”
Cutler said Dorsey hopes to add another 10 to 20 lawyers in Dallas in the corporate, bankruptcy, healthcare and real estate practice areas.
Gruber, who is 62, said that a dozen law firms had talked with him during the past several months about joining their Dallas practices.
“Like a lot of lawyers, I ignored the calls of many headhunters for a long time,” Gruber said. “But I started talking to people who had jumped from boutiques or mid-sized Texas law firms to national law firms and they all seemed very happy.
“I’ve been incredibly impressed with the legal talent that has joined Dorsey,” he said.
A graduate of the SMU Dedman School of Law, Gruber said he’s proud of the successes achieved by the litigation boutique he founded, which grew to 25 attorneys at its peak.
But he said he came to realize that the national law firms opening offices in Texas offered a better alternative to the boutique model.
“It’s hard to compete against these national law firms,” Gruber said. “They provide the comfortability of smaller, more intimate offices but also the deep resources that we and our clients need. And Dorsey is exactly what I wanted.”
© 2018 The Texas Lawbook. Content of The Texas Lawbook is controlled and protected by specific licensing agreements with our subscribers and under federal copyright laws. Any distribution of this content without the consent of The Texas Lawbook is prohibited.
If you see any inaccuracy in any article in The Texas Lawbook, please contact us. Our goal is content that is 100% true and accurate. Thank you.