© 2015 The Texas Lawbook.
By Mark Curriden
(Jan. 19) – Prominent Dallas trial lawyer Jeff Tillotson is leaving Lynn Tillotson Pinker Cox, the litigation boutique he joined two decades ago.
Tillotson, who is one of the lawyers credited with exposing cyclist Lance Armstrong’s years of lying and covering up the use of performance enhancing drugs, is temporarily practicing on his own, but he is expected later this year to join Reese Gordon Marketos, another litigation-based firm founded in 2011.
Mike Lynn announced late Monday that the 30-lawyer firm will now be called Lynn Pinker Cox.
“It has been a fantastic time and we scored a lot of great wins,” Tillotson said during an interview with The Texas Lawbook on Monday. “Throughout it all, it is Mike Lynn’s law firm and it should always be Mike Lynn’s law firm, because he built it and made it the great firm it is today.
“Mike has been very supportive of my career and, while he’s disappointed that I’m leaving, he has been great and supporting my decision fully,” he said. “Mike is a great friend and that’s not going to change.”
A 1987 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, Tillotson spent the first five years of his career as an associate in the litigation section of Shearman & Sterling in Los Angeles. In 1993, he moved to Dallas to join Baker Botts as an associate.
Lynn, who has described Tillotson as one of the best courtroom lawyers he’s ever seen, said Monday that he’s sad to see his long-time business partner leave the firm, but he understands the reasons behind the move.
“This was a natural evolution for Jeff and the best thing for him and his practice at this point in his career,” Lynn said. “We will miss Jeff and we wish him all the best.”
Tillotson is temporarily renting office space from Reese Gordon Marketos on the sixth floor of St. Paul Place.
The RGM law firm has been in talks with Tillotson about joining the seven-lawyer firm, but those plans had to be put on hold due to a client conflict.
RGM represents Irving-based HMS Holdings in a billion-dollar trade secrets case in which Lynn Pinker Cox is defending Public Consulting Group. The case is scheduled to go to trial in March.
“Once the trial is over, the plan is for Jeff to join us as a partner,” Joel Reese, a founding partner at RGM, said in an interview with The Texas Lawbook.
Reese said the firm currently occupies 7,000 square feet on the sixth floor at St. Paul Place and is building out another 2,000 square feet to prepare for Tillotson’s arrival later this year.
“I want to get back to what I do best – try cases for elite clients,” Tillotson said.
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