Tim Durst
For the second time in three months, O’Melveny & Myers has hired a longtime Texas lawyer who had spent their entire three-decade career at a Texas firm.
In June, the Los Angeles-based corporate law firm hired bankruptcy expert Lou Strubeck, who had spent 34 years practicing at Norton Rose Fulbright, to open O’Melveny’s Dallas office.
On Wednesday, O’Melveny announce that Baker Botts litigation partner Tim Durst is also joining the firm.
Durst, who has handled several high-profile cases in recent years for AT&T, PepsiCo Frito Lay and Fluor, spent his entire career at Baker Botts, including six years as partner-in-charge of the Houston firm’s Dallas operation.
In an interview with The Texas Lawbook, O’Melveny Chair Brad Butwin said the firm likes hiring lawyers such as Durst and Strubeck because they demonstrate loyalty by being “lifers” at their old firms and not lawyers who jump from firm to firm every few years. He said there are practice areas in Texas that “are white hot.”
“We could have tried to hire 30 people from one law firm in order to grow fast, but we prefer to cherry-pick the best people,” Butwin said. “I expect more folks to join us in the near future. We plan to be materially larger than we are now, but there is no magic number in mind.”
O’Melveny opened in Austin June 2 with nine lawyers and opened its Dallas office 22 days later. Durst will be the ninth lawyer in its Dallas office.
Butwin said the firm has office space for up to 50 lawyers in Dallas and 25 in Austin.
“I’ve known and been around O’Melveny lawyers for many years because of cases we have handled together,” Durst said. “They reached out and asked if I was interested in helping build a high-end practice from the ground floor.
“I didn’t want to go to work at a place that was just putting a toe in the Texas market,” he said. “I am convinced that Texas is a core part of the firm’s strategy going forward.”
Butwin said he knew Durst by reputation.
“This is a perfect match for the firm,” Butwin said. “Tim is a nationally recognized trial lawyer and a leader inside and outside of the courtroom. We are playing the long game.”
The American Lawyer reports that O’Melveny reaped $835 million in revenue in 2020 with revenues per lawyer at $1.245 million and profits per equity partner of $2.456 million.