Dallas-founded Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr has opened an office in Fort Worth, launched by a seven-lawyer team and led by office managing shareholder Adrienne Wall.
David Coligado, CEO of Munsch Hardt, said an office in Fort Worth has been part of the firm's strategic plan for a long time, because the firm has clients in the city. But, he said, they waited until the firm had a team of Fort Worth lawyers at the ready.
"We've been getting the right group together. We waited until we were able to provide the whole scope of services," he said.
In addition to Wall, a real estate finance lawyer, the shareholders include trial attorney Austin Franklin; Theo Bruton, who formerly was in-house counsel for a commercial real estate developer in Fort Worth; construction and real estate lawyer Grant Jordan; and financial services and corporate lawyer Deana Tillotson. The team also includes litigation associate Erin Rutherford and real estate senior attorney Melissa Tucker.
The Fort Worth office is aimed to initially serve clients across the full cycle of commercial development, finance, business operations and dispute resolution.
The firm announced the office launch on Wednesday, even though some of the lawyers have been working in a temporary space in Fort Worth for about the last six weeks, Coligado said. The firm has leased space that should be ready for move-in during the third quarter of this year, he said.
Wall said she's been largely working remotely in Fort Worth since she joined Munsch Hardt more than four years ago, and the firm has been building the team since then. All have been at the firm for a period of time, except for Franklin, a former Kelly Hart & Hallman partner who joined on Wednesday.
Coligado said the firm wanted to have transactional and litigation lawyers on board in Fort Worth for the launch, and with Franklin starting on Wednesday, "We felt like we had the full balance."
Over the short term, Wall said, the firm would like to add litigators and some financial services lawyers to the new office.
She said she's always worked in Fort Worth, and it is what the firm has planned for the entire Fort Worth team.
"You just can't drop Dallas attorneys into the Fort Worth market," she said.
It is about a 45-minute drive from the firm's Dallas office to downtown Fort Worth, she said.
Colagado declined to identify the firm's clients in Fort Worth, but the firm's press release cites work for a bank and a lender, a real estate developer, a food and beverage distribution company and a medical center.
The last time Munsch Hardt opened an office was in 2004, when it launched in Houston. The firm also has an office in Austin.
"We've always been in Tarrant County and knew we’ve been servicing some clients out of Tarrant County. The Fort Worth business community wants their attorneys on the ground in Fort Worth," Coligado said.
The permanent space will accommodate up to 15 lawyers, but the firm has an option to take more space.
"What we’ve seen over the last two or three years in North Texas, demand has been brisk for Texas-focused midsized law firms. To me, the sky is the limit there," he said. "Texas businesses need Texas firms."
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