BEST LAWYERS IN DALLAS, THE

Whitley, Glenna

ABOUT 14,000 ATTORNEYS PRACTICE law in the greater Dallas area and, despite all the jokes that nonlawyers love to tell, most are competent and honest people who represent their clients well. But a few stand out from the pack, building reputations as the best in their areas of practice.

D Magazine's first annual "Best Lawyers in Dallas" survey has identified 140 of the city's top attorneys in 20 specialties ranging from antitrust work to family law. What the best lawyers have in common is that their peers have singled them out not only by reputation-which can live long after an attorney has decided to focus on fly-fishing-but also by observing their performance in person, whether in the courtroom or on the other end of a conference table.

Before anyone shouts "objection!" to the subjective nature of any such list, here's how we did it. D mailed ballots to 5,000 attorneys in the city asking them to vote for those peers who exemplify the best of the bar. The ballot was also posted on our web site.

Attorneys were asked this question: "Which Dallas lawyers, of those whose work you have witnessed firsthand, would you rank among the current best? Your answers may include co-counsel, lawyers you have observed in court, opposing counsel, etc." With that question in mind, the attorneys were asked to identify four lawyers in their specialties-one from inside and three from outside their law firms. Attorneys could not vote for themselves and were required to nominate at least one attorney from outside their firm for their same-firm vote to be valid.

We took pains to counter-balance the advantage held by the biggest law firms and to prevent ballot-box stuffing. Same-firm votes were assigned less weight than outside firm votes, so a large number of same-firm votes did not guarantee a "best" listing. Only ballots signed by attorneys who included their law firm and State Bar Number were counted. Incomplete ballots were not considered. Ballots had to be received by 5 p.m. on January 31 to be counted.

Sounds complicated, but we figured anyone who managed to pass the Texas Bar exam could figure it out. Even so, a small number of votes had to be thrown out because the attorneys couldn't follow directions. One wiseacre sent his or her ballot back with the notation "that's an oxymoron" scrawled over the words "Best Lawyer." And of course we heard reports of attorneys vigorously lobbying their compatriots for votes.

To ensure fairness, D asked one of the most respected lawyers in Dallas, Jim Coleman of Carrington, Coleman to help us form a committee of equally wellrespected attorneys to evaluate the results. We express our appreciation to Jim Coleman as well as to Mike Boone of Haynes and Boone, Mike Baggett of Winstead Sechrist & Minick, Ernie Figari of Figari Davenport, John Howie of Howie and Sweeney, Vester Hughes of Hughes & Luce, and Tom Luce. (All but Luce, who is no longer in active practice, made the list based on peer votes.)

The committee reviewed the votes and made the determination that only attorneys license& practice with the bar prior to 1992 were considered for the final list. The panel discounted the lobbying and also decided to limit the list to those attorneys who pulled well ahead of their peers in the voting; those with only one or two votes didn't make it. Final decisions on confusing ballots were deferred to the panel.

The results reflect the hot areas of legal practice in the last decade: of 2,000 responses, we received 900 votes in business litigation, with 20 attorneys making the list, followed by family law with 12, and labor and employment law with 11. In some fields, such as tax, bank lending, ERISA, franchise and dealership, and white-collar criminal defense work, only two or three attorneys garnered enough votes to make the list.

What traits do the best lawyers in Dallas have in common? "Every good lawyer has mastered the area in which they practice," says Mike Boone. "They understand the basic legal issues and the substantive law issues. They have great people skills. The separator is excellent judgment."

Ernie Figari calls them "hard workers" dedicated to the interests of the client. And they are "fighters," aggressive competitors who'll find a way to win, but within ethical and moral boundaries.

Absolute integrity is an important characteristic of a "best" lawyer, says Vester Hughes. While an attorney is actually simply a "high-powered servant" to the client's needs, Hughes says that the best lawyers know that they may need to convince clients that their objectives are not ethically or professionally wise.

"I think the best lawyers are those with the technical skills and the temperaments to solve problems and decrease hostilities among the parties," says Mike Baggett. "They try to figure out how to resolve matters in the most effective way."

Some of the names on our list are stalwarts often mentioned in the press; others are relatively unknown. A few, such as Coleman and Hughes, have practiced more than 50 years; others, like Bart Showalter of Baker Botts and Wei Wei Jeang of Munsch Hardt, have been at it as few as seven years. But maturity and mileage count for a lot: the attorneys who made the list averaged almost 27 years of experience.

Eighty-seven percent are male and only 13 percent female, signaling the slow progress women have made into the top ranks of the legal profession. And the big firms dominated, with 61 percent from law firms of 100 or more attorneys.

Few lawyers in solo practices made the list. "Getting the experience you need is difficult unless you associate with people who have some business," says Coleman. And though there are excellent attorneys who practice alone, especially in the area of family law, it's harder to take on big cases and win. "You've got to have backup and support to get anything done," says Boone.

The old saw that if you want to be a lawyer in Texas you'd better go to school in Texas proves not to be true. Only 33 percent of our top attorneys graduated from Texas law schools; 67 percent went out-of-state. For those who decided to stay in-state, SMU rules: 34 percent graduated from SMU, 20 percent from the UT, and 5 percent from Baylor. No other schools ranked. Of those who graduated outof-state, Harvard and the University of Virginia law schools each accounted for 4 percent, followed by Duke, Georgetown, and Louisiana State University with 2 percent each.

What areas of the law will produce the next decade's best attorneys? Coleman points to the increasing importance of intellectual property. "A lot of that is trademark work," Coleman says. "There will be a great deal of litigation regarding people changing from one company to another and whether they are carrying with them trade secrets." Attorneys who have technical and engineering backgrounds will also be highly sought after. Attorneys who focus on technology now will be breaking new ground, and that means being in the forefront of emerging law. Lawyers poised to take advantage of technology's disappointments will flourish as well. "Technology is big, but right now there's a hiccup across the nation," says Boone. "Bankruptcy is hot, hot, triple-hot."

Baggett sees creating new forms of corporate and business financing as a potentially lucrative field in the next decade. "Lawyers with fairly broad experience can act as counselors for business people trying to resolve conflicts and put transactions together," says Baggett.

International law will also continue to grow as global markets become more vital to American business. "We'll see lawyers trying to bring different countries' laws into harmony," Coleman says. This will also fuel the need for lawyers with expertise in immigration law as companies turn to foreign markets for workers.

Though the attorneys on the advisory panel acknowledge that any survey has shortcomings, they felt the 2001 list is a good representation of the Dallas Bar's current cream of the crop. Will the same lawyers be on the list next year? Don't bet on it.

"This is a profession where if you don't stay up, you'll get surpassed," says Boone.

THE BEST LAWYERS IN DALLAS (BY SPECIALTY)

ANTITRUST

TYLER A. BAKER

Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal L.L.P.

BARRY F. McNEIL

Haynes and Boone, LLP

JERRY L. BEANE

Strasburger & Price, L.L.P.

APPELLATE

JEFFREY S. LEVINGER

Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal L.L.P

MARVIN S. SLOMAN

Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal L.L.P.

NINA CORTELL

Haynes and Boone, LLP

P. MICHAEL JUNG

Strasburger & Price, L.L.P.

SCOTT STOLLEY

Thompson & Knight L.L.P.

BANK LENDING

JIM LITTLEJOHN

Donohoe, Jameson & Carroll, PC.

KAREN S. NELSON

Haynes and Boone, LLP

MICHAEL W. HILLIARD

Winstead Sechrest & Minick PC BANKRUPTCY WORKOUT

H. DEWAYNE "COOTER" HALE

Baker & McKensie

LOU STRUBECK

Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP

ROBERT D. ALBERGOTTI

Haynes and Boone, LLP

ROBIN E. PHELAN

Haynes and Boone, LLP

PATRICK J. NELIGAN JR.

Neligan, Andrews & Foley, L.L.P.

DANIEL C. STEWART

Vinson & Elkins LLP

IRA D. EINSOHN

Winstead Sechrest & Minick P. C.

BUSINESS LITIGATION

ROBERT W. JORDAN

Baker Botts L.L.P. ROD PHELAN

Baker Botts L. L.P.

JAMES RENARD

Bickel & Brewer

FLETCHER L. YARBROUGH

Carrington, Coleman, Sloman Blumenthal L.L.P.

JAMES E. COLEMAN

Carrington, Coleman, Sloman Blumenthal L.L.P.

ERNIE E. FIGARI JR.

Figari Davenport & Graves, L.L.P.

THOMAS MELSHEIMER

Fish & Richardson PC

GEORGE W. BRAMBLETT JR.

Haynes and Boone, LLP

ROBERT H. MOW

Hughes & Luce, L.L.P.

CHARLES L. BABCOCK

Jackson Walker, L.L.P.

STEPHEN F. MALOUF

Law Offices of Stephen F. Malouf PC.

MIKE LYNN

Lynn, Tillotson & Pinker L.L.P

MIKE McKOOL JR.

McKool Smith

MARK S. WERBNER

Sayles, Lidji & Werbner

RICHARD SAYLES

Sayles, Lidji & Werbner

TERRY OXFORD

Susman & Godfrey L.L.P.

ROBERT C. WALTERS

Vinson & Elkins L.L.P

WILLIAM D. SIMS JR.

Vinson & Elkins L.L.P.

RALPH I. MILLER

Weil Gotshal Manges LLP

W. MIKE BAGGETT

Winstead Sechrest & Minick P.C.

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

BOB DYER

Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP

C. TED RAINES JR.

Haynes and Boone, LLP

ROBERT E. WILSON

Haynes and Boone, LLP

IKE A. SHUPE

Hughes & Luce, L.L.P.

JAMES H. WALLENSTEIN

Jenkens & Gilchrist, PC.

WILLIAM D. POWELL

Powell & Coleman, L.L.P.

EDWARD A. PETERSON

Winstead Sechrest & Minick P.C.

CONSTRUCTION

JOE F. CANTERBURY JR.

Canterbury, Stuber Elder Gooch & Surratt, PC

PAUL B. UNDERKOFLER

Goins, Underkofler Crawford & Langdon, L.L.P

ROBERT L. MEYERS III

Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue

CORPORATE FINANCE/MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

LARRY SCHOENBRUN

Gardere Wynne Sewell L.L.P.

MICHAEL M. BOONE

Haynes and Boone, LLP

TERRY W. CONNER

Haynes and Boone, LLP

ALAN J. BOGDANOW

Hughes & Luce, L.L.P.

WILLIAM A. MCCORMACK

Hughes & Luce, L.L.P.

SALLY A. SCHREIBER

Munsch, Hardt, Kopf & Harr, PC

JEFFREY A. CHAPMAN

Vinson & Elkins L.L.P

MICHAEL D. WORTLEY

Vinson & Elkins L.L.P.

MICHAEL A. SASLAW

Weil Gotshal Manges LLP

THOMAS W. HUGHES

Winstead Sechrest & Minick PC

JIM BURNHAM

Law Offices of Jim Burnham

GEORGE R. MILNER

Milner Goranson, Sorrels, Udashen & Wells

RONALD L. GORANSON

Milner, Goranson, Sorrels, Udashen & Wells

TOM MILLS

Tom Mills & Associates, L.L.P

ERISA

GARY LAWSON

Lawson & Fields, PC

R. BRENT CLIFTON

Locke Liddell & Sapp LLP

FAMILY LAW

MICHAEL P. GEARY

Geary, Porter & Donovan, PC

ANGELINE LINDLEY BAIN

Goranson, Bain & Larsen, L.C.

PAULA LARSEN

Goranson, Bain & Larsen, L.C.

THOMAS P. GORANSON

Goranson, Bain & Larsen, L.C.

IKE VANDEN EYKEL Koons,

Fuller Vanden Eykel & Robertson, PC

KATHRYN J. MURPHY

Koons, Fuller Vanden Eykel & Robertson, PC

KEVIN R. FULLER

Koons, Fuller, Vanden Eykel & Robertson, PC

MIKE MCCURLEY

McCurley, Kinser, McCurley & Nelson, L.L.P.

JOHN V. MCSHANE

McShane & Davis, L.L.P.

SUSAN VRANA

Moore & Vrana

THOMAS L. RAGGIO

Raggio & Raggio, P.L.L.C.

BRIAN L. WEBB

Webb & Ackels, PC

FRANCHISE & DEVELOPMENT

JOYCE MAZERO

Jenkens & Gilchrist, PC

ANN HURWITZ

Piper Marbury Rudnick & Wolfe LLP

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

BARTON (BART) E. SHOWALTER

Baker Botts LLP

JERRY W. MILLS

Baker Botts L.L.P

DAVID L. MCCOMBS

Haynes and Boone, LLP

PHILLIP B. PHILBIN

Haynes and Boone, LLP

JERRY R. SELINGER

Jenkens & Gilchrist, PC

ROBERT W. TURNER

Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue

WEI WEI JEANG

Munsch, Hardt, Kopf & Harr, PC

CHARLES S. COTROPIA

Sidley & Austin

V. BRYAN MEDLOCK JR.

Sidley & Austin

HERBERT J. HAMMOND

Thompson & Knight L.L.P

LABOR & EMPLOYMENT

LAURA M. FRANZE

Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P

Akin Gump Technology Ventures

MARK A. SHANK

Clark West Keller L.L.P

MICHAEL P. MASLANKA

Clark West Keller L.L.P.

WILLIAM L. KELLER

Clark West Keller L.L.P.

EDWARD CLOUTMAN

Edward B. Cloutman III, Attorney and Counselor at Law

HAL GILLESPIE

Gillespie, Rozen & Watsky, P.C.

YONA ROZEN

Gillespie, Rozen & Watsky, PC

WILLIAM C. STROCK

Haynes and Boone, LLP

JANETTE JOHNSON

Janette Johnson & Associates

STEPHEN E. FOX

Jenkens & Gilchrist, PC

KEN MOLBERG

Wilson Williams & Molberg

LAND USE & ENVIRONMENT

DIANA C. DUTTON

Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P.

SUSAN MEAD

Jenkens & Gilchrist, PC

WILLIAM S. DAHLSTROM

Jenkens & Gilchrist, PC

KIRK R. WILLIAMS

Winstead Sechrest & Minick PC

MALPRACTICE

JIM COWLES

Cowles & Thompson, PC

MAX FREEMAN

Gwinn & Roby

PAULA FISETTE SWEENEY

Howie & Sweeney, L.L.P.

BRYAN J. MAEDGEN

Strasburger & Price, L.L.P.

CHARLA GLASS ALDOUS

The Law Firm of Charla G. Aldous, PC

JOHN H. MARTIN

Thompson & Knight L.L.P.

PERSONAL INJURY

FREDERICK M. BARON

Baron & Budd, PC

LISA A. BLUE, PH.D

Baron & Budd, PC

JOHN HOWIE

Howie & Sweeney, L.L.P.

FRANK L. BRANSON

Law Offices of Frank L. Branson

TED B. LYON

Law Offices of Ted B. Lyon & Associates, PC

MICHAEL L. PARHAM

Parham, Jones & Shiver LLP

LEWIS R. SIFFORD

Sifford, Anderson, Vice & MacFarlane, L.L.P

C. L. MIKE SCHMIDT

The Schmidt Finn

PETER KRAUS

Waters & Kraus, L.L.P.

WINDLE TURLEY

Windle Turley, PC

TAX

HENRY D. DEBERRY, III

Baker Botts L.L.P.

JEFFREY M. TRINKLEIN

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

RICHARD M. FIJOLEK

Haynes and Boone, LLP

VESTER T. HUGHES JR.

Hughes & Luce, L.L.P.

WILLIAM P. BOWERS

Jenkens & Gilchrist, PC

ALAN S. MILLER

Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue

RON KALTEYER

Locke Liddell & Sapp LLP

DAVID WHEAT

Thompson & Knight L.L.P.

EMILY A. PARKER

Thompson & Knight L.L.P

TRUSTS & ESTATES EDWARD V. SMITH III

Graham, Smith & Lindquist, L.L.P.

KATHRYN G. HENKEL

Hughes & Luce, L.L.P.

THOMAS H. CANTRILL

Jenkens & Gilchrist, PC

JACK M. KINNEBREW

Strasburger & Price, L.L.P.

JAMES J. HARTNETT

The Hartnett Law Firm

RUST E. REID

Thompson & Knight L.L.P.

JOHN F. BERGNER

Winstead Sechrest & Minick P. C.

WHITE COLLAR DEFENSE ROBERT E. DAVIS

Hughes & Luce, L.L.P

CHARLES M. MEADOWS JR.

Meadows, Owens, Collier Reed, Cousins & Blau, L.L.P

Copyright D Magazine May 01, 2001
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