BigLaw Prospects for Law Students at Texas Schools Forum

[downinDtown]

If you are going (or want to go) to law school in TX and want BigLaw, please see this rough guide to identify which Texas schools have the highest placement in NALP firms with Texas offices. Obviously all of these firms extensively recruit and hire high achieving students from non-Texas, particularly T14 and Texans who went to school out of state and want to return. So this is simply a reference for which Texas schools have the highest placement of attorneys in Texas law firms.

Akin Gump (based in Dallas, but counting all attorneys firm-wide)
1) UT - 75 attorneys
2) SMU - 47 attorneys
3) Houston - 18 attorneys
4) St. Mary’s - 6 attorneys
5) Baylor - 4 attorneys (tie)
5) Texas Tech - 4 attorneys (tie)
7) Texas A&M - 2 attorneys (tie)
7) South Texas - 2 attorneys (tie)
8. TX Southern - 0

Andrews Kurth (based in Houston, but counting all attorneys firm-wide)
1) UT - 86 attorneys
2) Houston - 66 attorneys
3) SMU - 40 attorneys
4) South Texas - 22 attorneys
5) Baylor - 15 attorneys
6) Texas Tech - 4 attorneys
7) St. Mary’s - 2 attorneys
8. Texas A&M - 0 (tie)
8. TX Southern - 0 (tie)

Baker Botts (based in Houston, but counting all attorneys firm-wide)
1) UT - 116 attorneys
2) Houston - 35 attorneys
3) SMU - 27 attorneys
4) Baylor - 8 attorneys
5) Texas Tech - 3 attorneys (tie)
5) South Texas - 3 attorneys (tie)
7) St. Mary’s - 1 attorney
8. Texas A&M - 0 (tie)
8. TX Southern - 0 (tie)

Baker McKenzie (Offices in Dallas and Houston)
1) UT - 16 attorneys
2) SMU - 13 attorneys (tie)
2) Houston - 13 attorneys (tie)
4) South Texas - 7 attorneys
5) Texas Tech - 5 attorneys
6) St. Mary’s - 1 attorney
7) Baylor - 0 (tie)
7) Texas A&M - 0 (tie)
7) TX Southern - 0 (tie)

Bracewell & Giuliani (based in Houston, but counting all attorneys firm-wide)
1) UT - 107 attorneys
2) Houston - 49 attorneys
3) SMU - 21 attorneys
4) Baylor - 16 attorneys
5) South Texas - 14 attorneys
6) St. Mary’s - 6 attorneys
7) Texas Tech - 3 attorneys
8. Texas A&M - 0 (tie)
8. TX Southern - 0 (tie)

Fish & Richardson (offices in Dallas, Houston, and Austin)
1) SMU - 11 attorneys
2) UT - 3 attorneys (tie)
2) Houston - 3 attorneys (tie)
2) Texas Tech - 3 attorneys (tie)
5) Baylor - 1 attorney
6) South Texas - 0 (tie)
6) St. Mary’s - 0 (tie)
6) Texas A&M - 0 (tie)
6) TX Southern - 0 (tie)

Fulbright & Jaworski (Based in Houston, with offices in Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio)
Dunno - F&J's search function on their website wasn't working; tried on my phone and computer.
But because it's based in Houston, top 2 are likely UT and UofH, and for Dallas a good number of SMU. I'll edit this if someone gets the numbers.

Gardere (Based in Dallas, with offices in Austin and Houston)
1) UT - 56 attorneys
2) SMU - 38 attorneys
3) Houston - 16 attorneys
4) South Texas - 12 attorneys
5) Texas Tech - 11 attorneys
6) St. Mary’s - 8 attorneys
7) Baylor - 7 attorneys
8. Texas A&M - 0 (tie)
8. TX Southern - 0 (tie)

Greenberg Traurig (Austin, Dallas, and Houston)
1) UT - 28 attorneys
2) Houston - 16 attorneys
3) Texas Tech - 7 attorneys
4) Baylor - 6 attorneys (tie)
4) South Texas - 6 attorneys (tie)
6) SMU - 3 attorneys
7) TX Southern - 2 attorneys
8. St. Mary’s - 0 (tie)
8. Texas A&M - 0 (tie)

Haynes & Boone (based in Dallas, but counting all attorneys firm-wide)
1) UT - 87 attorneys
2) SMU - 79 attorneys
3) Houston - 32 attorneys
4) Texas Tech - 18 attorneys
5) Baylor - 13 attorneys
6) South Texas - 9 attorneys
7) St. Mary’s - 8 attorneys
8. Texas A&M - 3 attorneys
9) TX Southern - 0

Jackson Walker (based in Dallas, but counting all attorneys firm-wide)
1) UT - 84 attorneys
2) SMU - 44 attorneys
3) Houston - 30 attorneys
4) South Texas - 18 attorneys
5) Texas Tech - 16 attorneys (tie)
5) St. Mary’s - 16 attorneys (tie)
7) Baylor - 13 attorneys
8. TX Southern - 1 attorney
9) Texas A&M - 0

Jones Day (Offices in Dallas and Houston)
1) UT - 63 attorneys
2) SMU - 31 attorneys
3) Houston - 7 attorneys
4) Texas Tech - 4 attorneys (tie)
4) Baylor - 4 attorneys (tie)
6) South Texas - 2 attorneys
7) St. Mary’s - 0 (tie)
7) TX Southern - 0 (tie)
7) Texas A&M - 0 (tie)

K&L Gates (Offices in Dallas, Houston, and Austin)
1) UT - 30 attorneys
2) SMU - 15 attorneys
3) Baylor - 11 attorneys
4) Houston - 9 attorneys
5) Texas Tech - 3 attorneys
6) St. Mary’s - 1 attorney (tie)
6) TX Southern - 1 attorney (tie)
8. Texas A&M - 0 (tie)
8. South Texas - 0 (tie)

King & Spalding (Offices in Houston and Austin)
1) UT - 35 attorneys
2) Houston - 21 attorneys
3) SMU - 5 attorneys
4) South Texas - 4 attorneys
5) Baylor - 3 attorneys
6) Texas Tech - 2 attorneys
7) St. Mary’s - 1 attorney (tie)
7) TX Southern - 1 attorney (tie)
8. Texas A&M - 0

Locke Lord (Based in Dallas, with offices is Houston and Austin)
1) UT - 113 attorneys
2) SMU - 47 attorneys
3) Houston - 31 attorneys
4) Baylor - 14 attorneys
5) South Texas - 10 attorneys
6) Texas Tech - 7 attorneys
7) St. Mary’s - 0 (tie)
7) Texas A&M - 0 (tie)
7) TX Southern - 0 (tie)

Morgan Lewis (Offices in Dallas & Houston)
1) UT - 22 attorneys
2) Houston - 13 attorneys
3) South Texas - 9 attorneys
4) SMU - 7 attorneys
5) Baylor - 4 attorneys
6) Texas Tech - 0 (tie)
7) St. Mary’s - 0 (tie)
7) Texas A&M - 0 (tie)
7) TX Southern - 0 (tie)

Sidley Austin (Offices in Dallas & Houston)
1) UT - 22 attorneys
2) SMU - 9 attorneys
3) Houston - 8 attorneys
4) Texas Tech - 1 attorney (tie)
4) South Texas - 1 attorney (tie)
6) Baylor - 0 (tie)
6) St. Mary’s - 0 (tie)
6) Texas A&M - 0 (tie)
6) TX Southern - 0 (tie)

Thompson & Knight (Based in Dallas, but offices in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Houston)
1) UT - 81 attorneys
2) SMU - 53 attorneys
3) Houston - 24 attorneys
4) Texas Tech - 15 attorneys
5) South Texas - 8 attorneys
6) Baylor - 3 attorneys
7) St. Mary’s - 0 (tie)
7) Texas A&M - 0 (tie)
7) TX Southern - 0 (tie)

Vinson & Elkins (Based in Houston, but offices in Austin, Dallas, and Houston)
1) UT - 166 attorneys
2) Houston - 31 attorneys
3) SMU - 23 attorneys
4) South Texas - 13 attorneys
5) Baylor - 8 attorneys
6) Texas Tech - 4 attorneys
7) St. Mary’s - 0 (tie)
7) Texas A&M - 0 (tie)
7) TX Southern - 0 (tie)

Weil Gotshal (Offices in Dallas and Houston)
1) UT - 12 attorneys
2) SMU - 9 attorneys
3) Houston - 3 attorneys
4) Texas Tech - 2 attorneys (tie) – including Glenn West, Managing Parter (Dallas)
4) St. Mary’s - 2 attorneys (tie)
6) South Texas - 1 attorney (tie)
6) TX Southern - 1 attorney (tie)
8. Baylor - 0 (tie)
8. Texas A&M - 0 (tie)

Winstead (Based in Dallas, but offices in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and The Woodlands)
1) UT - 79 attorneys
2) SMU - 56 attorneys
3) Houston - 31 attorneys
4) Baylor - 20 attorneys
5) South Texas - 16 attorneys
6) Texas Tech - 14 attorneys
7) St. Mary’s - 6 attorneys
8. Texas A&M - 1 attorney (tie)
8. TX Southern - 1 attorney (tie)

For Other NALP Firms w/ only one office in TX (or horrible websites that don’t let you search by law school) -- I did not review these because these offices may not be representative of how firms hire from different schools because they will typically hire more from schools in that location. I wanted to see how different law schools stacked up for firm hiring when the firm is hiring in more than one market (and I got tired of doing more firms)
• Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing (Houston)
• Alston Bird (Dallas)
• Baker & Hostetler (Houston)
• Bryan Cave (Dallas)
• Carrington Coleman (Austin)
• Dechert (Austin)
• Dentons (Dallas)
• DLA Piper (Dallas/Houston – sucky website)
• Dykema Gossett (Dallas)
• Fulkerson Lotz (Houston)
• Gibbs & Bruns (Houston)
• Gibson Dunn (Dallas)
• Graves Dougherty Hearon & Moody (Austin)
• hogan lovells (Houston)
• Latham & Watkins
• Mayer Brown (Houston)
• Patton Boggs (Dallas)
• Paul Hastings (Houston)
• Perkins Coie (Dallas)
• Pillsbury Winthrop (Houston)
• Porter Hedges (Houston)
• Reed Smith (Houston)
• Scott, Douglas & McConnico (Austin)
• Shook, Hardy & Bacon (Houston)
• Skadden (Houston)
• Slater & Matsil (Dallas)
• Sutherland Asbill & Brennan (Houston)
• Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (Austin)
• Winston & Strawn (Houston)
• Yetter Coleman

TL;DR – If you are going to school in Texas and want BigLaw in TX, UT > SMU/UofH > Texas Tech/Baylor / TTT(T). The lower you go down the list, the more scholly $$$ you need as a safety net to catch you (and kept you from getting into loads of debt) when you don’t get BigLaw. The difference is that UT has some national sway, whereas SMU/UofH are strong in their specific region and weaker beyond that.

Edit- I forgot to change TWU to A&M. Apparently now that school is A&M affiliated it's so much more preftigious...The Aggies are going to take over Biglaw.

[Mullens]

While this data is useful for determining the alumni network of the different Texas schools in Biglaw, it doesn't provide nearly as much detail regarding hiring. It would be much better to look at the composition of the summer classes or recent associate classes of these firms. The numbers you posted appear to include boomer partners and pre-recession hires, data points which aren't really useful for analyzing recent hiring trends as the market has changed considerably. LST is still probably a better resource, even if it doesn't break down into specific firms.

[cron1834]

Dude, good contributions on the TX front today.

[downinDtown]

While this data is useful for determining the alumni network of the different Texas schools in Biglaw, it doesn't provide nearly as much detail regarding hiring. It would be much better to look at the composition of the summer classes or recent associate classes of these firms. The numbers you posted appear to include boomer partners and pre-recession hires, data points which aren't really useful for analyzing recent hiring trends as the market has changed considerably. LST is still probably a better resource, even if it doesn't break down into specific firms.

Good point, and I think you're right. But I think it does go to show the hierarchy of schools in TX. Firms are creatures of habit and don't suddenly add new schools to their OCI interview list and will continue to hire from schools where they traditionally have hired from in the past. Alumni networks are also important because those attorneys are going to be involved in the interview/selection process of future candidates, and most people tend to favor alumni from their own school (e.g., a UofH alum interviewing a SMU, UofH, and Baylor, assuming similar grades/WE/not socially awkward, would likely have some bias toward the UofH student).

Also goes to show that there are some very high-acheivers from lower schools that can sneak in to BigLaw(i.e., very rare for students from Texas Wesleyan/Texas Southern and other TTT(T)s to reach BigLaw), but it also demonstrates that UT dominates placement in almost all TX firms, while schools like SMU and Houston are primarily successful in their local markets, and Texas Tech and Baylor are left fighting for a few spots, with students from the other TX schools needing a prayer to get in.

[downinDtown]

Dude, good contributions on the TX front today.

Thanks. Not much to do at work/no immediate deadlines = time to impart some TX wisdom

[rodmanhust]

Thanks for the valuable info. I got full tuition waiver from TWU but no news yet from SMU; wanted to keep bigLaw hope alive.

About the former TWU: can Texas AM prestige propel its ranking into top 100 in 3 or 4 years?
Did some research on what happens when a big university purchases a no-name law school. only recent example is Penn State merging Dickinson Law in 2000. Not sure where Dickson Law ranked prior to 2000, but its ranking today (#51) looks consistent with Penn State (#37).
Can the same happen at A&M (overall rank #67)?
thoughts?

[deadpanic]

Thanks for the valuable info. I got full tuition waiver from TWU but no news yet from SMU; wanted to keep bigLaw hope alive.

About the former TWU: can Texas AM prestige propel its ranking into top 100 in 3 or 4 years?
Did some research on what happens when a big university purchases a no-name law school. only recent example is Penn State merging Dickinson Law in 2000. Not sure where Dickson Law ranked prior to 2000, but its ranking today (#51) looks consistent with Penn State (#37).
Can the same happen at A&M (overall rank #67)?
thoughts?

Top 100 is a meaningless distinction. Do not pay attention to the rankings. I would not go to whatever TWU is under any circumstances.

For Texas, go to Texas, SMU or Houston depending on your ties and where you want to work. Big law isn't likely from any of these schools and is honestly probably 0% chance at TWU.

[Attax]

Thanks for the valuable info. I got full tuition waiver from TWU but no news yet from SMU; wanted to keep bigLaw hope alive.

About the former TWU: can Texas AM prestige propel its ranking into top 100 in 3 or 4 years?
Did some research on what happens when a big university purchases a no-name law school. only recent example is Penn State merging Dickinson Law in 2000. Not sure where Dickson Law ranked prior to 2000, but its ranking today (#51) looks consistent with Penn State (#37).
Can the same happen at A&M (overall rank #67)?
thoughts?

Top 100 is a meaningless distinction. Do not pay attention to the rankings. I would not go to whatever TWU is under any circumstances.

For Texas, go to Texas, SMU or Houston depending on your ties and where you want to work. Big law isn't likely from any of these schools and is honestly probably 0% chance at TWU.

TWU is Texas Wesleyan, recently bought by Texas A&M making a lot of aggies getting hopeful it'll become a great phenomenal law school and they'll all just take all the biglaw jobs.


To OP: glad to see this, helps make me more confident about my Texas choice shooting for Texas biglaw.

[Mack.Hambleton]

Thanks for the valuable info. I got full tuition waiver from TWU but no news yet from SMU; wanted to keep bigLaw hope alive.

About the former TWU: can Texas AM prestige propel its ranking into top 100 in 3 or 4 years?
Did some research on what happens when a big university purchases a no-name law school. only recent example is Penn State merging Dickinson Law in 2000. Not sure where Dickson Law ranked prior to 2000, but its ranking today (#51) looks consistent with Penn State (#37).
Can the same happen at A&M (overall rank #67)?
thoughts?

>Texas A&M prestige

Also no

[El Principe]

TWU is Texas Wesleyan, recently bought by Texas A&M making a lot of aggies getting hopeful it'll become a great phenomenal law school and they'll all just take all the biglaw jobs.


To OP: glad to see this, helps make me more confident about my Texas choice shooting for Texas biglaw.

My cousin was telling me the same thing and he's not even an A&M alum. It's so odd how very few people besides those in the legal profession understand how that doesn't really matter.

[kalvano]

You shouldn't go to Wesleyan at all. Being bought by A&M doesn't mean a damn thing, no matter how much the Aggies want to pretend it does. Wesleyan is a worthless waste of time and money.

[rodmanhust]

You shouldn't go to Wesleyan at all. Being bought by A&M doesn't mean a damn thing, no matter how much the Aggies want to pretend it does. Wesleyan is a worthless waste of time and money.

Thanks for the honest advice.
I'm torn here.

[Savage13]

How much of a hiring disadvantage would students coming to UT from out of state have?

[downinDtown]

How much of a hiring disadvantage would students coming to UT from out of state have?

I think as long as you can demonstrate that you're not a flight risk and that you do want to stay in Texas, it's not markedly different for non-natives. For Texas BigLaw, make sure you don't bring up (or at least don't voluntarily bring it up) that you're bidding on out-of-state firms (or offices). Everybody wants you to make them feel like they're the only firm in the world when you're interviewing.

Also, in general, the higher your grades the less your lack of ties/non-native status will matter.