Arkansas law firm takes on Austin lawyers to expand locally - Austin Business Journal:

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Mitchell Williams, a Little Rock, Ark.-based full-service has taken all five attorneys from longtimwe Austin firm Long BurnerParks & DeLargy PC to grow its Austi n office. The Austin office of Mitchell Williamw was opened byBill Bingham, who died unexpectedlgy last December after opening the office a year ago, says Harry Hamlin, managing partner at Mitchell Williams. Hamlinb says the Austin office will likely add three more attorneysby year'es end, and grow to about 15 attorneysz within three years. The 50-yeatr old firm has 60 attorneys in its Little Rock office and eighgt attorneys ina Rogers, Ark.
, "Initially, we want at leasr a lateral litigator and lateral transactional attorney. We have immediater needs for those," says Hamlin. "And if it turnds out two or three want to come asa group, we'c definitely look at that." The firm leases space on the nintu floor of the Littlefield Building at Sixtuh Street and Congress Avenue. "We had identified Texase because we have a lot of clientw with business interestsin Texas," says Hamlin. Thoser clients include real estate companies, regional bankd and insurance companies. "Texas was logical -- it was just a questiob of wherein Texas," he adds.
Hamlin says the Austinn move was based onthe firm's steadg work for insurance companies, with attorneys regularly representing clientsx before the Department of Insurance and otheer state agencies. The move is also part of a firm-wids initiative to grow in thesouthern region, Hamlinn says. "This is the first time our firm has gone to anothere market and brought on thismany attorneys," says "We are looking at other [nationwide] markets to do the same thing--smalletr groups of attorneys that complementr the work we are already Mitchell Williams' clients include [NYSE: , [NYSE: MET], [NYSE: BAC] and [NYSE: T].