Dinsmore Eyes Texas Expansion, Citing Florida Growth as Guide

Ohio-founded law firm Dinsmore & Shohl is seeking to expand its Texas footprint months after opening an office in Houston.

“You have to sit where your clients sit to help them seize upon opportunities and deal with issues,” Joshua Lorentz, the firm’s managing partner, said in an interview.

Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin are the likeliest candidates, but the firm will lean into where the next natural opportunity arises, Lorentz said. Dinsmore would like 30 to 50 attorneys in one given region to “create that gravity” and is still looking to hire about 25 lawyers in Texas to meet their ideal bench requirements.

Big Law firms have flocked to the state to chase lucrative energy deals and related work, with mixed results. Dinsmore is looking at other aspects of the state’s hot legal market including litigation, labor and employment, and insurance work.

Josh Lorentz

Photo: Dinsmore & Shohl

The 600-plus-lawyer firm opened in Houston, its first Texas office, at the start of the year. It staffed up with Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith defectors, including office managing partner Sarah Smith and partners David Talbot and Allison Griswold. The group of litigators focuses on insurance and commercial disputes.

The firm has also followed Big Law’s rush to Florida, where Dinsmore opened its first office in Tampa in 2020. It absorbed healthcare and real estate focused litigation firm Mateer & Harbert to open an Orlando office in August 2023 and added a Miami office, including several insurance and other litigators, about three months later.

Dinsmore has been on a “strong growth pattern over the last three years,” said Lorentz, a former chair of the firm’s intellectual property department who became managing partner in January 2023.

Dinsmore also grew its California presence and hired alums of the drama-roiled boutique Daughtery Lordan, formally called Barber Ranen, including labor and employment Rachel McClintock and Kelsey Scherr. It merged with San Diego-based Mulvaney Barry Beatty Linn & Mayers at the end of last year.

Climbing the Leaderboard

Dinsmore reported more than $365 million in gross revenue last year, with profits per equity partner topping $645,000, according to the firm. Lorentz expects the firm’s revenue to reach $400 million this year.

The firm has steadily climbed the list of the 200 largest law firms in the country by revenue, according to data from The American Lawyer. The firm ranked 147th with a gross revenue of $187.5 million in 2014. It took the 114th spot last year.

Dinsmore has been steadily building out its specialty practice groups including healthcare, real estate, and a taxation group focused on tax credits, affordable housing and economic development.

“It’s not a merger here or a group here,” Lorentz said. “We’ve really expanded our geographic footprint but also focused at the same time on bringing in those specialty practices and then filling depth in areas that we already had.”

Houston

Firms have flocked to the Houston area in recent years, boosting competition among newcomers and those with deep roots in the region.

Kirkland & Ellis, Gibson Dunn, and Latham & Watkins are among those who’ve successfully created a presence in the city. Others are looking to follow, chasing booming energy deals work. Clifford Chance launched a Houston office last June, though Paul Weiss’ efforts to launch in the city are currently stymied.

“Our approach and expansion in Florida is a solid blueprint for what to expect in Texas,” Lorentz said. He wants the firm to compete for corporate and gas and oil-related legal matters in the Texas market.

“Texas is a great market all to itself,” Lorentz said. Its Texas clients include solar loan provider Dividend Solar Finance and coal mining company Mountain Coal Co LLC.

The firm’s Texas litigators are defending Lockheed Martin Corp. against allegations of fraudulent contracting and representing waste management company Valicor Environmental Services in a case alleging breach of contract.

The firm defended Fifth Third Bancorp. against allegations that the regional bank colluded with other financial institutions, including JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley. The case resulted in a $68 million settlement between Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul (D) and the eight large financial institutions.