As prospective lawyers working our way through law school, we had a variety of visions for our legal futures. For many, this path included this sequence of events: getting a judicial clerkship, followed by a great summer associate spot at a top-tier firm, and then a job offer as an associate at a firm with a solid partnership track. The vision culminates on the day you become partner.

Of course, a legal career at a firm does not reach the pinnacle there, but for a law firm associate who has dreamt of this day since law school, it is one grand, affirming milestone.

In our cover feature this month, we look at the top 25 firms in Texas and their 2018 partnership numbers in our annual New Partners Survey. We also examine the percentage of minority and women new partners by firm. This survey data represents partners promoted from associates, not lateral hires.

So how do the partnership classes compare year over year? Is Big Law in Texas the place to go to reach the pinnacle of partner? Compared to last year, it is a resounding “yes.”

As senior reporter Brenda Sapino Jeffreys explains, the healthy increase in new partners in Big Law indicates a solid Texas market, at a time when the stock market is on the upswing and the price of oil, a key statistic in Texas, has improved as well. The numbers of new partners is a significant improvement over a year ago, when numbers were down due to the recession in 2009, which—in turn—resulted in a small associate class.

So, as we settle in to what appears to be a strong, lucrative year for Big Law in the Lone Star State, consider this a big, hearty Texas “howdy” to all the new partners. Congratulations!

Best regards,

Heather Nevitt