Inside the $3 Billion Legal Industry Battle for M&A Dealmaking in Texas

Law firms in Texas are engaged in a fierce battle to represent businesses, private equity funds and banks involved in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures – and an estimated $3 billion in legal fees are at stake.

A small cadre of Texas-based law firms – Vinson & Elkins, Baker Botts, Akin Gump, Bracewell, Locke Lord and Thompson & Knight – are desperately competing against a group of deep-pocketed national legal practices – Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Sidley Austin, Gibson Dunn and Jones Day, just to name a few – to represent buyers and sellers in M&A deals large and small.