Partner compensation averaged $1.51 million in Dallas in 2023, up 4.1% compared with 2021, while the average of $1.28 million in compensation in Houston dropped 5.2% compared with 2021.

That compares with a national average of $1.41 million, recruiting firm Major, Lindsey & Africa reports in its 2024 Partner Compensation Survey Report, which surveyed equity and nonequity partners on their 2023 compensation.

A total of 66% of survey participants in Dallas said they were satisfied with their total compensation, while 75% in Houston said they were satisfied. Nationally, 72% of survey respondents in 2024 were satisfied with their compensation.

Karen Andersen, a partner at Major Lindsey who places partners and groups at firms in Southern California and the Pacific Northwest, said a relatively small number of partners in Dallas and Houston responded to the survey, which may have affected the results.

"My guess is that overall what’s going on in both markets at the Am Law 200 firm level is closer to what we are seeing nationally," she said.

Andersen wrote the survey report along with Louis Ramos, a managing director in Major Lindsey's partner practice group in Washington, D.C.

Originations in Dallas and Houston also declined, according to the survey report, and Andersen said the small sample sizes in Dallas and Houston may also be reflected in those findings.

"Looking at the national number is a better way of looking at it. Regression analysis shows that origination is the biggest factor in compensation," she said.

Originations in the 2024 survey for all survey respondents averaged $3.48 million, up 26% when compared with 2022. In Dallas, originations in 2024 were $4.01 million, down 4.8% from 2022, and came in at $3.12 million in Houston, down 2.5%, according to the report.

Following a national trend, however, billing rates improved significantly in both Texas markets, according to the report. Billing rates averaged $1,157 for the Dallas partners who responded to the survey, up 42%, and they averaged $1,147 in Houston, up 28%. The average hourly billing rate for all 2024 survey respondents came in at $1,114, an increase of 36% compared with the 2022 survey.

Andersen and Ramos each said the increased billing rates in the two Texas cities are relatively in line with the industry average.

The information is useful for lawyers, firms and recruiters, Ramos said.

"For us, any insight into what the market is doing is always helpful. It's helpful for all of us at MLA when we are talking to potential candidates who are thinking of making a lateral move, letting them know what the market is telling us … and also helpful in terms of law firms in giving them some sense of where market compensation is," he said.

The survey of partners at firms in the Am Law 200 was conducted during the summer; results are based on responses from 1,718 participants. The report includes results of individual markets such as Dallas and Houston when they are statistically meaningful.