Los Angeles legal heavyweights are treating Texas like their newest profit center, and the numbers back it up. Five LA-founded firms — Gibson Dunn, Latham & Watkins, O’Melveny & Myers, Paul Hastings and Sheppard Mullin — together employed nearly 650 lawyers in Texas and pulled in more than $1.26 billion in revenue from Texas work in 2025. That mix of headcount, high-value M&A and hot litigation is shaking up the talent market across Dallas, Houston and Austin.
According to The Texas Lawbook, the five firms’ Texas lawyers generated about $1.26 billion in 2025, roughly a 22 percent jump from the prior year, while their combined full-time equivalent headcount in the state climbed to nearly 650. The Lawbook ties the surge to aggressive lateral hiring and a run of billion-dollar deals and energy-sector fights playing out in Texas courts.
Big Deals and Big Hires
Gibson Dunn is the clear pace-setter. The firm’s Texas revenue climbed to roughly $421 million in 2025, and it added 13 lawyers in Dallas and Houston, pushing its statewide roster past 200 attorneys, according to reporting. Its teams handled a string of billion-dollar M&A matters, including representing SpaceX in a reported $17 billion spectrum purchase, and its trial lawyers notched courtroom wins that boosted the firm’s profile in the state.
The litigation run included a headline-grabbing $660 million jury verdict for Energy Transfer, as reported by The Dallas Morning News, the sort of result that tends to get local competitors’ attention.
Latham's Texas Surge
Latham & Watkins has been riding its own Texas wave. The firm reported about $388 million in Texas revenue last year, a 22 percent bump, with its Houston and Austin offices leading 14 billion-dollar M&A deals, according to data from The Texas Lawbook. “We are seeing green lights across the board,” Nick Dhesi, Latham’s Houston managing partner, told The Texas Lawbook, describing how the firm is using that momentum to dig deeper into the state’s corporate and private equity pipelines.
Other Fast-Growing Players
Paul Hastings has been on a tear as well. After roughly two years of steady hiring, its Texas revenue topped $200.5 million in 2025, with local headcount swelling by about 70 lawyers. O’Melveny’s Texas practice produced roughly $133.3 million in revenue, a year-over-year jump of more than 40 percent, while Sheppard Mullin’s Texas lawyers generated about $119.6 million. Taken together, those tallies helped push the group’s combined Texas revenue past the billion-dollar mark, according to reporting by The Dallas Morning News.
What Is Driving the Rush
Two forces are doing most of the work here: corporate migration and sector booms. Companies that have shifted operations or even entire headquarters to Texas, paired with strong demand in energy, private equity and data centers, have created a steady stream of premium work for national firms eager to follow their clients.
Industry rankings such as Chambers note that data-center deals and energy-related litigation have been particularly profitable for out-of-state entrants, turning Texas into a kind of legal gold rush for firms that can staff big-ticket matters.
What It Means for Local Markets
For corporate clients, the influx simply means more options at the top end of the market. For Texas-based firms, it has meant a bare-knuckle fight over partners, practice groups and succession plans. Local outfits still hold many of the deepest client relationships, but the arrival of national rainmakers has pushed compensation higher and fueled a booming lateral market that rewards senior lawyers and makes long-term planning trickier for smaller and mid-sized shops.
Firm websites and office listings, for example, Gibson Dunn, show many of these newcomers doubling down on Texas bricks-and-mortar as they chase deals and disputes across the Lone Star State. The message is hard to miss: the California firms are not just visiting, they are settling in.
