To meet with the new leader of Hawkins Parnell Thackston & Young, visitors may need to start booking a trip to the Lone Star State.

Texas-based Robert Thackston, the defense litigation firm's new chairman, is also its first leader from outside its Atlanta headquarters.

“That my partners were willing to elect someone outside of Atlanta shows we realize we have a national practice now,” said Thackston, whose office is in Dallas.