Texas-based Firms Losing Lawyers to National Practices & Boutiques

© 2017 The Texas Lawbook.By Mark Curriden (May 2) – Large Texas-based corporate law firms employed eight percent fewer business lawyers in 2016 than they did the year before, while national firms increased the number of attorneys they employed in the state by 13 percent last year. New data compiled by The Texas Lawbook shows that Big Tex law firms shed more than two percent of their lawyers in 2016 from the year before – the fourth consecutive year that the largest law firms headquartered in Texas have reduced their attorney headcount. More than half of the attorneys who left large Texas-based firms took their law practices to national law firms operating in the state, while the remainder joined small law boutiques or went to work for corporate in-house legal departments. “There are no new lawyers in town,” says Jonathan Newton, managing partner of the Houston office of the global law firm, Baker McKenzie. “They just move around from firm to firm. It’s like a merry-go-round.” Twenty-six of the 50 largest law firms operating in Texas are headquartered outside of the state, according to statistics gathered by The Texas Lawbook. In 2010, only nine out-of-state firms cracked the top 50.…