- United States
- Mergers & combinations
- Los Angeles, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, Houston
Buchalter has combined with Griffith Davison, a Texas construction, real estate and commercial litigation boutique. The deal strengthens its Dallas office and adds offices in Fort Worth, Austin and Houston, The Texas Lawbook reported on 2 October. The Los Angeles firm now has nearly 40 lawyers in Texas.
Griffith Davison's founders take Texas leadership roles at Buchalter
Scott Griffith, who founded Griffith Davison in 1993 and is Board Certified in Construction Law, now chairs Buchalter's Construction Litigation Group, and co-founder Kimber Davison, dual Board Certified in Commercial Real Estate and Construction Law, becomes Texas Regional Managing Partner across all four offices, Buchalter said. Partners Jason L. Cagle, Tyler Frankel, James Hicks, Ryan W. Lione, J.P. Neyland and Brian J. O'Toole joined with roughly 17 additional attorneys and professional staff.
Both founders are Baylor Law graduates, and the firm had grown to four Texas offices by the time of the deal (Griffith Davison). The entire leadership moved as a group rather than disbanding. Buchalter absorbed the full firm instead of making selective lateral hires.
Latham, Weil and Paul Hastings expanded in Texas before the combination
Buchalter, founded in Los Angeles, now has more than 685 lawyers across 10 states and 17 cities. It opened a Chicago office in January 2025 with 25 attorneys from Robbins DiMonte, and added nine lawyers to its Nashville office from Barton LLP in August 2026.
The Texas move comes as national firms expand across the state. Weil, Gotshal & Manges opened an Austin office in February 2026, its third in Texas, anchored by IP litigation co-head Jeff Homrig (Weil). Paul Hastings has leased a new Dallas office and is relocating its Houston space, having more than tripled its Texas headcount in a year and expecting over 100 lawyers in the state (Paul Hastings). Latham & Watkins opened in Dallas after reportedly paying a Kirkland partner about $20 million to lead the launch (The Texas Lawbook).
Construction and real estate work expands on Texas data-center demand
The combination centers on construction law, commercial real estate and commercial litigation (Buchalter). That work is expanding in Texas on data-center construction, corporate campus building and relocations, concentrated in the DFW metroplex and the Austin-San Antonio corridor (Texas Construction Estimating). Chambers notes Texas real estate development has continued despite high interest rates because long-term confidence in the market holds (Chambers and Partners).
Legislation has reinforced the local nature of the work. Texas enacted construction reforms in 2025, including SB 841, effective 1 September 2025, which expanded construction trust fund protections, along with a rule requiring disputes over Texas property to be litigated in Texas (Peckar & Abramson). Those rules keep construction disputes in-state, where firms with Texas offices and board-certified construction lawyers handle them.
Texas legal demand rose while firm headcount grew slowly in 2026
Corporate lawyers in Texas were busier on M&A and capital markets in the first half of 2026 than in any six-month period since 2021, per Citi data released to The Texas Lawbook. Demand for legal services rose about 2 percent and corporate-firm headcount grew 2.6 percent over the same period, with fees charged up by double digits.
Against that demand, headcount has grown slowly, a gap group combinations like this one address directly (The Texas Lawbook). Griffith said the firm joined for a national platform (Buchalter). That makes it a boutique seeking scale as national firms expand around it.
The combination gives Buchalter offices in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin and Houston in a single move, a four-office platform built on construction and real estate practices at the point those practices are expanding fastest in the state.
