There's no shortage of high-profile Houston lawyers among the 55 industry leaders who signed a July 31 letter pleading with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to halt passage of controversial legislation regulating which restrooms transgender people can use in the state.

“As members of Houston's business community, we write to express our concern with the proposed 'bathroom bill' being considered in this special legislative session. We support diversity and inclusion, and we believe that any such bill risks harming Texas' reputation and impacting the state's economic growth and ability to create new jobs,” the letter said. Signatories included Andrew Baker of Baker Botts, Patrick Oxford of Bracewell, Thomas Perich of Andrews Kurth Kenyon, David Taylor of Locke Lord, Mark Kelly of Vinson & Elkins and Denis Braham of Winstead.

Lawyers who signed the letter said finding business leaders who object to the bill was not hard. “Nothing is unanimous but this was pretty much a no-brainer,” said Andrews Kurth's Perich. When a similar proposal became law in North Carolina, the passage led to a huge economic downturn and ultimately to the repeal of the law, he noted.