In one month and three days, there will be one fewer large full-service corporate law firm headquartered in Texas.
Partners with Dallas-based Thompson & Knight, a 134-year-old law firm that has deep roots in the oil patch and represents some of the most important energy companies in North America, have voted to merge with Holland & Knight of Miami on Aug. 1.
Together, they will create the seventh largest corporate law firm operating in Texas.
The combined firm will stick with the name Holland & Knight and boast 1,600 lawyers in 30 offices worldwide with annual revenues of about $1.25 billion.
“This is a huge accomplishment that makes both law firms stronger,” said Kent Zimmermann, a law firm consultant with Zeughauser in Chicago. “Holland & Knight, in one swoop, dramatically increased its position in a highly competitive market.”
Zimmermann predicted that there will be more firm mergers in Texas as national law firms are being pressured to scale up.
Thompson & Knight ranked 12th in revenues in Texas, according to the 2020 Texas Lawbook 50, which documents revenues of the 50 largest corporate firms operating in Texas.
The Texas Lawbook 50 shows that TK’s 231 lawyers practicing in Texas generated $178.8 million last year – a decline of 9.4% from the year before and down from $214 million in 2018. The firm has Texas offices in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston. Thompson & Knight also has about two-dozen attorneys in outposts in Algiers; Monterrey, Mexico; Mexico City; and New York City.
Holland & Knight ranks 33rd in The Texas Lawbook 50 with 92 lawyers in Texas and 2020 revenues of $74.8 million, which is a 9% increase from 2019. Globally, Holland & Knight has about 1,300 lawyers and about $1 billion in revenues in last year.
Combined, a merged Thompson & Knight and Holland & Knight would have been the seventh largest corporate law firm operating in Texas with about 320 attorneys and revenues of $253.6 million, according to The Texas Lawbook 50.
Thompson & Knight lawyers are joining a significantly more profitable law firm. In 2020, Holland & Knight reported profits per partner were $1.7 million, compared to TK’s $745,145.
Leaders at the two law firms declined to comment.
Zimmermann said the merger gives TK’s clients “access to important commercial centers across the U.S.”
This is the largest merger of a Texas law firm since 2018, when three large corporate law firms in the state – Andrews Kurth, Gardere and Strasburger – combined with larger national law firms.
Like those three law firms, Thompson & Knight has been losing some of its top partners to other law firms in recent years. For example, O’Melveny announced earlier this month that it is opening an Austin office with four lawyers from Thompson & Knight, including TK’s managing partner in Austin, Phillip Oldham.