Firms headquartered in Texas largely outperformed the industry during the first half of 2023, with growth in demand, a lower drop in productivity and lower growth in expenses compared with 2022, according to results of a new midyear survey.

Demand at the homegrown Texas firms improved by 0.5% during the six-month period, compared with a 0.4% falloff for the industry, according to the Wells Fargo Legal Specialty Group 2023 Six-Month Interim Survey. Combined with a billing rate increase of 7.3% for the Texas firms, a mark close to the 7.7% average increase for the industry, revenue swelled by 4.9% at the Texas firms, a larger increase than the 4.4% growth for the industry.