Baker & Hostetler officially announced its Dallas debut this week, adding four more partners in the city for a total of 16 lawyers.

Including the newest group, composed of partners from four different firms, Baker & Hostetler now has nine partners working in Dallas, its second Texas location. The firm has been hiring Dallas lawyers over the course of several months, but did not confirm its plans to open an office until now.

Baker & Hostetler has been interested in expanding into the Dallas market for a while because it has a number of clients with headquarters, operations or other legal needs in the city, firm chairman Paul Schmidt said in a statement.