Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
The Houston-based firm’s ties to Saudi Arabia are “rooted in the legacy” of former U.S. Secretary of State and Baker Botts senior partner James A. Baker III, and Robert Jordan, who served as U.S. ambassador to the kingdom from 2001 to 2003. The firm now has 22 lawyers and business professionals in the office.
Haynes Boone Chair and Firmwide Managing Partner Taylor Wilson discussed his firm’s most recent office opening with The Lawbook. “We’re particularly bullish on California.”
In an era when lawyers are changing teams with the frequency of SEC linebackers, a large contingent of Dallas-based lawyers at Norton Rose Fulbright have been staying put for decades. Like lawyers on-the-move, they cite 'culture' as their reason for staying; but offering the credibility of decades in the same office of the same firm, these lawyers may actually mean it.
The combination bolsters Buchalter's existing Dallas presence and establishes offices in Fort Worth, Austin and Houston. The Los Angeles-based firm now as nearly 40 lawyers in Texas.
Corporate lawyers in Texas were busier handling mergers, acquisitions and capital market transactions during the first half of 2026 than in any six-month period since 2021 and the tail end of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to new Citi Global Wealth at Work Law Firm Group data released exclusively to The Texas Lawbook. The Citi data shows that Texas businesses’ demand for legal services and lawyer headcount were up slightly, while the legal fees charged by Texas lawyers were up an astonishing double digits.
Stris & Maher announced on Monday its expansion to Dallas with a team of intellectual property lawyers from Skiermont Derby.
Willkie Farr & Gallagher opened its Dallas office just two years ago, initially concentrating on transactional work. Now, the firm is advancing to the next phase by expanding its global litigation capabilities in Texas by hiring Grant Schmidt and Andrew Bean from Hilgers.
Steven Schulman has spent the past three decades helping reshape the role of pro bono work in Big Law. After building Latham & Watkins’ pro bono program, he persuaded Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld to create a full-time pro bono partnership for him. Since then, he has watched corporate firm pro bono work expand from fewer than 1 million hours nationwide in 1994 to more than 5 million annually today, a transformation that mirrors his own rise as one of the country’s leading pro bono advocates. Colleagues say Schulman, who is based in Dallas, has helped drive that growth, leveraging his role to shape not only Akin’s pro bono program but also the broader legal profession’s approach to public service.
A 30-minute coffee between Amy Stewart and Adam Sloustcher went into extra time and turned into a momentous meeting for the two Dallas labor and employment pros.
Andy Ryan and his team at Ryan Law Partners are joining the national litigation boutique and bolstering its trial group in Texas.
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