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Firm Management tease

First Texan and First Latina to Take Global Law Firm Helm

For the first time in history, a Texan is set next year to become the top managing lawyer of a 2,000-attorney global law firm based outside of the Lone Star State.

And she’s a woman and Hispanic.

Dallas trial lawyer Yvette Ostolaza, a three-decade veteran of the Texas business law community, will become chair of Sidley Austin’s managing committee in 2022. The Texas Lawbook takes an in-depth look at Ostolaza’s path from a Cuban-immigrant neighborhood in Miami to almost deciding against going to college to leading a corporate law firm that made $2.4 billion in 2020.

‘You should start a woman-owned law firm’

More than a dozen years ago, Kimberly Phillips, now GC of litigation at Shell Oil, told Dawn Estes she needed to create her own legal practice. Today, Estes Thorne & Carr is one of the largest women-owned corporate law firms in Texas. How did Estes build such a successful firm in a male-dominated legal world? The Texas Lawbook has the story.

“I don’t know when Dawn sleeps,” Golds Gym GC Shelby Angel said. “She’s extremely responsive and attentive to client needs.”

Thompson & Knight, Holland & Knight Seeking to Merge

Dallas-headquartered Thompson & Knight and Holland & Knight of Miami are in final negotiations to merge. If the combination is approved, the firm will boast more than 1,600 lawyers and annual revenues in excess of $1.25 billion.

“This proposed combination would expand significantly each firm’s presence in important geographic markets,” Thompson & Knight managing partner Mark Sloan said in a written statement to The Texas Lawbook.

The Texas Lawbook has learned the merger should be finalized this summer.

Thompson Coburn’s Crazy First Year in Texas

Three hundred ninety-two days ago, four women partners opened the Dallas office of St. Louis-based Thompson Coburn. The date was March 2. The lawyers had big kickoff plans, including a big office opening party. Two weeks later, a once-a-century pandemic hit. Courthouses were shutdown. Restaurants shuttered. Air travel nearly ceased. No lunches or dinners or parties. Nicole Williams and her team shifted their strategy. What did they do and how did they do it? A Texas Lawbook Q&A has the details.

Kirkland & Ellis Bets on the Texas Trifecta

Kirkland & Ellis, the world’s most profitable law firm, is expanding its footprint in Texas again. Since it opened its first office in Houston seven years ago, Kirkland has been the fastest growing corporate legal operation in Texas. Now, the Chicago-founded law firm is tripling down on its bet on the Lone Star State with plans to open in Austin.

Polsinelli Dallas MP Brian Bullard, One Year on the Job

As Polsinelli nears its 10-year anniversary in Dallas, The Texas Lawbook caught up with Dallas office managing partner Brian Bullard to reflect on his first year leading the office in what was a truly historic and turbulent first 12 months.

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