With several Texas firms posting record financials for 2016, the 20 highest-grossing firms in Texas collectively did much better in 2016 than in 2015—boosted in part by recovery in the energy industry.

Gross revenue for the 20 firms totaled $5.52 billion in 2015, up 3.4 percent when compared with the $5.34 billion in revenue for those same firms in 2015. That significant increase was largely due to record financials at Vinson & Elkins, huge increases at Baker Botts as a result of large contingent-fee litigation fees, and strong performance by other firms, including Jackson Walker and Coats Rose.

Managing partners of many of the BigTex firms say energy work—a base of client rosters at most of the firms—started out slow in 2016 but strengthened during the summer and continued to improve through the rest of the year. The firm leaders say, however, that a variety of other practice areas, such as real estate, white-collar crime defense, bankruptcy, private equity, technology and financial services, all performed quite well during the year and helped boost financial results.

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The percentages tell the story. Gross revenue was up 20.2 percent at Baker Botts, which benefited from contingency fees; at Jackson Walker, where litigation, corporate and real estate grew significantly in 2016, gross revenue increased 11.3 percent; and gross revenue rose 28.6 percent at Coats Rose, which had 26.7 percent more lawyers in 2016 than in 2015 because of a merger with Wright Ginsberg Brusilow at the beginning of 2016.