Luke Wohlford

Litigator Luke Wohlford has joined Barnes & Thornburg as a partner in Dallas—making the move after practicing for only a little more than a year at the Dallas office of Oklahoma firm Crowe & Dunlevy.

Wohlford said he was attracted to Barnes & Thornburg's growth plans in Dallas and its national reach. He also is excited to practice again with Mark Bayer, the managing partner of the Barnes & Thornburg office in Dallas, who, like Wohlford, formerly worked at Gardere Wynne Sewell.

“It was just an attractive opportunity for me. They have a great group of attorneys they have assembled here in Dallas,” Wohlford said.

Wohlford, who started in his new position at the end of October, declined to identify his clients but said he does commercial litigation. including fiduciary litigation, corporate disputes, contract disputes, business torts and business divorces. He also has represented banks in breach-of-trust actions and has done product liability work as well as antitrust litigation.

Bayer, who helped open the Barnes & Thornburg office in Dallas in 2015, said in a statement that Wohlford is an “accomplished litigator with significant experience handling oil and gas matters, which is crucial in Texas.”

Wohlford is the fourth litigator to join the firm's 26-lawyer Dallas office over the last six months. Others are commercial litigators Robert Castle and Jamie Welton, who joined in July, and intellectual property litigator Mark Nelson, who made the move in April.

Wohlford joined Crowe & Dunlevy in September 2017 and said he is grateful for the opportunity the firm gave him to work with a mentor, Randy Gordon, who leads the Dallas office that opened last year. Wohlford said he was not disgruntled at that firm.

Gordon could not be reached for comment.

Crowe & Dunlevy has eight lawyers in Dallas, according to its website.

Further Reading:

Laterals Open Dallas Office for Barnes & Thornburg

Dallas Market Gets Another New Firm, This One From Oklahoma