Royce Poinsett |

Austin lawyer/lobbyist Royce Poinsett left Gardere Wynne Sewell prior to the firm's merger with Foley & Lardner to open a solo practice in Austin, where he says it is easier to operate a Texas lobbying practice.

“It's tough to lobby at a huge firm—so much, oh so many conflicts,” Poinsett said.

These days, fewer big firms in Texas are operating big lobby shops—a trend that dates back several years.

Poinsett, who is a former general counsel to the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives and worked as a lawyer/lobbyist at McGinnis, Lochridge & Kilgore and at Baker Botts before he joined Gardere, opened Poinsett PLLC in March. He had worked as a senior attorney at Gardere since 2014.

While the firm's impending merger with Foley & Lardner was not the reason for his departure, he said the coming changes did prompt him to think about the best place to continue his practice.

He left the firm in February and said all of his clients, which include Halliburton Co., the Texas Veterinary Medical Association, and the Texas Motorcycle Dealers Association, went with him.

Poinsett said that having his own firm has enabled him to maintain a lower overhead and avoid client conflicts. He expects to pick up additional work through referrals from big firms in Texas.

Poinsett isn't the only lawyer/lobbyist to have left Gardere before the merger. Mark Vane in Austin was one of a group of 14 lawyers who moved to Husch Blackwell in Texas on the eve of the merger with Foley. Vane, whose clients include Walmart, Texas Caterpillar dealers, and large accounting firms, is of counsel at Husch in Austin but also works for the firm's government-affairs consulting affiliate, Husch Blackwell Strategies, which has lawyers in various offices doing state and federal lobbying.

“Sometimes law firms don't understand lobbying and what we do, but Husch gets it by placing us in a subsidiary,” Vane said. “It shows a commitment and interest in government affairs.”

Vane and Poinsett both said some firms are getting out of the direct lobbying business and either referring work to smaller lobbying shops or doing it through subsidiaries.

Gardere Foley, as the firm is now known in Texas, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Poinsett's departure. But the firm announced earlier this month that Craig Chick, a founder of Capital Partners Consulting, joined the firm in Austin as director of public affairs within its government solutions practice.