'Dirt Lawyers' to Megadeals: How Houston Became Big Law Hot Spot

Houston's legal market wasn't always one of the most competitive arenas in Big Law. But today, 14 of the 15 largest law firms by revenue have an office in Space City.

The market's growth has mirrored the explosion of the country's energy industry over the past decade or so. And the competition among law firms continues to evolve, as the biggest firms fight for their share of a market once dominated by local firms.

On this episode of On the Merits, Bloomberg Law’s Roy Strom spoke with Nick Dhesi, the managing partner of Latham & Watkins' Houston office, which is credited as the first to truly crack the once-insular market.

Latham in February celebrated its 15th year in Houston. The firm has more than 120 lawyers in the city, the fifth-largest presence among the 100 largest firms by revenue, according to Leopard Solutions.

Other firms, such as Kirkland & Ellis, Sidley Austin, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, have piled into the market, lured by its dominant oil and gas scene.

Just last year, Paul Weiss made an unsuccessful effort to open in Houston, Bloomberg Law reported, which included an attempt to poach from Latham.

Latham, the second-largest firm by revenue, now has a roughly $2 billion energy and infrastructure practice, led by Houston partner Justin Stolte.

In the podcast, Dhesi talks about Latham's main competitors now, what a "dirt lawyer" is, and how the Texas legal market will respond to an economy that's branching out of the traditional oil and gas deals that powered its growth.

He also discusses how the Houston and Dallas legal markets are different, and what Texas law schools have been doing to supply more high-caliber lawyers to all the top firms clamoring for talent in the state.

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