The Philadelphia Business Journal reports on the trend of Philadelphia law firms getting "mixed results" after opening satellite offices outside of Philadelphia. But, the article notes, in 2009 Morgan Lewis bucked that trend and actually doubled lateral additions, compared to the previous year’s numbers.
The article describes how the firm specifically sought attorneys of experience in Texas, as follows: "Morgan Lewis has been known for its large offices in Philadelphia, New York, Washington, and California. But [Tom] Sharbaugh said it sought out Texas and Houston in particular, because it wanted to add geographic scope and practice expertise that it could best find in Texas. The firm opened in Houston in 2007 with a handful of lawyers from a small litigation firm, then quadrupled in size the next year before leveling off in 2009 with a few key additions that brought the firm more than 50 lawyers. Sharbaugh said Houston was attractive because of the number of major energy companies based there and its close proximity to the federal court in the Eastern District of Texas that produces a large number of intellectual property cases."