Inadmissible

Seven BigTex firms are on the AmLaw 100 list this year, with each firm making a repeat appearance on the national ranking. The AmLaw 100, compiled by Texas Lawyer affiliate The American Lawyer, is based on the firms’ 2010 gross revenue, rounded to the nearest $500,000. Most of the seven Texas firms moved up or down just a bit in the ranking, but the fact that seven Texas firms are again on the list shows that firms based in the Lone Star state held their own in 2010 among the nation’s highest-grossing firms. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld of Dallas is 32nd on the list, moving down one spot from last year, with $736.5 million in gross revenue in 2010. Fulbright & Jaworski of Houston came in 40th, the same rank as last year, with $625.5 million in gross revenue. With $602.5 million in gross revenue, Houston-based Vinson & Elkins is 42nd on the list, up from 47th last year. Baker Botts of Houston had $555.0 million in gross revenue in 2010, garnering the firm the 48th spot on the list, down from 45th last year. Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell of Dallas is in 68th place, up from 69th place last year, with $396.5 million in gross revenue, while Haynes and Boone came in at 93rd on the list with $296.0 million in gross revenue, down from 87th last year. Bracewell & Giuliani , which cracked the AmLaw 100 list last year, is in 97th place in the ranking, up one spot from last year, with $280.5 million in gross revenue. The AmLaw 100 is published in the May issue of The American Lawyer.

Pomp and Circumstance

Graduation speakers at Texas’ nine American Bar Association -accredited law schools include jurists, academicians, a firm founder, politicians and representatives from corporate America. This month’s ceremonies kick off on May 13 with Supreme Court of Texas jurists addressing graduates at two schools: Justice David Medina will deliver the keynote address at Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston, and Justice Debra H. Lehrmann will speak to graduates at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law in Fort Worth. There are four graduation ceremonies planned for May 14. Ricardo G. Cedillo , a founding shareholder in San Antonio’s Davis, Cedillo & Mendoza , will address graduates at St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio. Pius Langa , former chief justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and former visiting professor at Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in Dallas, will be the keynote speaker at that school’s ceremony; U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison , R-Texas, will be the commencement speaker at Texas Tech University School of Law in Lubbock; and Brad Smith , general counsel and senior vice president, legal and corporate affairs, for Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft Corp. will give the graduation address to students at the University of Houston Law Center . Houston Mayor Annise Parker will speak to graduates at South Texas College of Law in Houston on May 21. Also on May 21, S. Jack Balagia , vice president and general counsel for Irving-based Exxon Mobil Corp., will give the commencement address at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin. Baylor University School of Law in Waco is on a quarterly semester system and held its spring commencement ceremony on April 30 with university president Ken Starr as the keynote speaker.

And the Winners Are . . .