Litigation boutique McKool Smith kicked off the 2024 summer battle for talent this week by announcing four- and five-digit bonuses to its lawyers who have worked the most time on client matters.
A&O Shearman: Texas is Strategic to New Firm’s Success
The 800 partners of the newly merged firm A&O Shearman recently conducted their first partner retreat in Denmark but a big part of their focus was 5,180 miles away on their practices in Houston, Dallas and Austin. The 3,900-lawyer corporate firm, the result of Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling combining, has 64 attorneys in Texas, but its leaders tell The Texas Lawbook major additions are planned.
“We are less than two months into this new firm, but the growth opportunities we see now are significantly larger than the opportunities for growth we saw before,” said Bill Nelson, managing partner of the Texas region for A&O Shearman and a capital markets partner in the firm’s Houston office.
Texas Lawbook 50: Corporate Firms Topped $9B in Texas Revenues in 2023
Fueled by record-high contingency fee collections, significant increases in hourly rates and healthy client demand for complex commercial litigation and corporate transactional work, the largest business law firms in Texas grew revenues to more than $9 billion, according to new Texas Lawbook 50 data. Forty-three of the top 50 corporate law firms posted gains, according to the Lawbook 50, which ranks firms on revenues generated by attorneys based in Texas.
Six of the firms achieved increases of $30 million or more, and 18 saw $10 million increases. Only seven firms on the list recorded revenue declines. Thirty-five firms hit record highs in 2023. The Top 10 welcomed two newcomers in 2023 — a firm that soared thanks to a sudden gusher of cash from contingency fee court victories that were years in the making and a firm that has steadily climbed in the rankings since 2019 on a combination of litigation and M&A dealmaking.
Gibson Dunn’s Back-to-Back Years of Record Growth in Texas
Gibson Dunn faced a strategic crisis in late 2010: Firm leaders had serious doubts about the viability of its Texas operation. Shuttering the Dallas office was a real possibility. And then, the Texas law gods smiled upon the LA-founded corporate law firm. More than a dozen years since, Gibson Dunn has sextupled the number of lawyers it has in Texas and increased revenues from those Texas attorneys by 10 times.
During the past two years, the firm has been on a Texas-sized hiring spree — growing from 117 attorneys to 179. This year, the firm is expecting its largest class of Texas summer associates and its largest class of first-year hires. Revenues and profits have soared. This is the story about how it happened.
Texas Firms Lead Nation with 13% Revenue Surge in 2023 as Results Driven by Big Victories
The 10 biggest Texas-based firms posted an eye-popping 13 percent revenue gain in 2023, good enough to earn the top spot among the 11 regions in Michael McKenney’s latest review of the U.S. corporate law business.
10 Years of Kirkland: A Bold Vision Transformed Texas Corporate Law and Generated Record Revenues and Profits
A decade later, Kirkland has 414 lawyers in Houston, Dallas and Austin. The firm last year made $200 million more than any law firm in Texas has ever made in one year. Through the eyes of those who were there at the beginning, this is the story of how Kirkland became the highest revenue generating and most profitable corporate law firm in Texas history. And firm leaders are promising they are not finished growing.
Corporate Law Firms Hired Record Number of Texas First-Years in 2023
The competition for first-year associates hit a fevered pitch 2023 as corporate law firms in Texas hired 503 brand new lawyers last fall to join their Texas offices — a 15 percent jump over 2022, according to exclusive new Texas Lawbook 50 data. Twenty-six law firms operating in Texas increased their hiring of new law school graduates in 2023, while 15 firms reduced their first-year hires and nine firms hired the same number in 2023 as they did the prior year.
Locke Lord in Merger Talks with Troutman Pepper
Both sides are confirming that Texas-based Locke Lord is in merger talks with the Georgia-founded firm. Texas Lawbook 50 research shows Locke Lord’s revenues in Texas stayed flat in 2023, but profits per partner increased. An analyst says he sees growth in depth and breadth for both sides in the proposed merger. This isn’t the first time Troutman has tried to break into Texas.
AI: What’s Real, What’s Next for Law Firms in Texas?
The Texas Lawbook spoke to a handful of law firm leaders about whether or how they’re using artificial intelligence technology internally and how they are advising clients on the use of the powerful tool. This week at the Northern District of Texas Bench Bar Conference, attendees will hear from federal judges and practitioners about the ethics of AI during a panel discussion moderated by U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod.
A New Shift in Candidate Assessments
Recent trends show that firms are facing a new wave of lawyers doing more due diligence of firms prior to accepting (and even rejecting) offers. While law firms scrutinize resumes of potential candidates, they may themselves be subject to deeper review.