Georgia firm Taylor English Duma has made an entrance to the Texas market by hiring former Kelley Drye & Warren partner Bryce Linsenmayer, who will work as a remote attorney based in Houston.

Taylor English has about 160 lawyers, but 25 of them work remotely from California, Illinois, Virginia, Georgia, Florida and now Texas, and report into the firm's Atlanta hub. That group of remote lawyers makes up a key part of the firm's geographic strategy, by allowing it to seize on hot markets with a lesser financial investment.

Linsenmayer said Taylor English's model is a good fit for his practice, because he spends much of his time at clients' offices. Although he joined Kelley Drye less than two years ago, Linsenmayer said he decided recently to consider a change because he was finding it difficult to spend much time in the firm's office or to fulfill his responsibilities to help the firm build the Houston office.

“I was really looking to have more control over my practice and Taylor English offered the perfect hybrid of a traditional law firm, because they have … lawyers in a hub in Atlanta, while at the same time offering me all of the benefits of being what we call a remote attorney,” Linsenmayer said.

Marc Taylor, managing partner of Taylor English, said the firm is “incredibly lucky” to hire Linsenmayer, because he is the kind of lawyer the firm wants in its target markets.

“He is exactly that person—[he has] a high-end, very sophisticated practice that is very bespoke and attracts other great lawyers,” Taylor said.

Taylor said the remote location structure allows the firm to operate in markets such as Texas where the firm doesn't need the scope and scale of a brick-and-mortar office.

“Texas is exactly the kind of market we want to be in. It has a large number of Inc 5000 [companies]. They are buying legal services from traditional Am Law legal models. There is opportunity there for value-driven need,” Taylor said.

“We would be foolish if we were not looking heavily in Texas. We are looking at Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin,” he said.

Linsenmayer said he found himself at a crossroads recently, deciding whether to go out on his own after spending his career at big firms including Haynes and Boone, Baker & McKenzie, McGuire Woods, Baker & Hostetler, K&L Gates and then Kelley Drye.

He said a friend suggested he look at Taylor English.

“I really wasn't ready to go out on my own, but I was looking to make a change. It's a lifestyle change,” Linsenmayer said of his Feb. 1 move.

Linsenmayer does securities and M&A work for clients in the energy, technology, cybersecurity, environmental, travel and leisure and health care industries. He also advises issuers and investment bankers in public offerings and private placements.

His clients include Frontera Resources Corp. and Iskandia Energy. In 2005, Linsenmayer helped Frontera, an exploration and production company in Houston, go public on the Alternative Investment Market in London. It was the first Texas company to go public on the AIM.

William Jackson, managing partner of Kelley Drye's Houston office, did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment on Linsenmayer's departure. The office opened in late 2016.

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Further Reading:

Marc Taylor's Bet on the Future of the Law