The year is still young, but the Dallas legal market is rollicking like it never has before. Big firms are raiding established Texas firms to open new offices, and Dallas lawyers are surprising competitors by jumping to other firms.

The unusually liquid market is top of mind for managing partners of Dallas firms, and they posit many reasons why the Dallas market is changing rapidly. They say out-of-state firms, which focused interest on energy-centric Houston for the last several years, now see opportunity in Dallas because north Texas is home to many corporate headquarters and the city's economy is strong. They also suggest that flat demand for legal services nationwide is pushing firms to expand into good markets like Dallas.

“I don't think there's another market in the country going through the change and turmoil as Texas right now,” said Mark Sloan, managing partner of Thompson & Knight.