Duane Morris has opened an office in Dallas, its third in Texas, with four Barnes & Thornburg trial lawyers, as the Philadelphia-based Am Law 100 firm targets opportunity in the robust Dallas economy and the high-technology and energy sectors in Texas.

Matthew Taylor, chairman and chief executive officer of Duane Morris, said in a statement Tuesday that adding the trial team gives the firm a “critical mass of legal talent” in Texas and, when combined with the Houston and Austin offices, a footprint in key Texas markets.

Taylor expects further expansion in Texas, a state that continued to attract out-of-state firms in 2020, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. The office opened Monday.

The lateral partner hires are Robert Castle III, Randy Gordon, Jamie Welton and Lucas “Luke” Wohlford. Gordon helped open the Barnes & Thornburg office in Dallas in 2015, and the others made the move in 2018.

The new Duane Morris partners were not immediately available for comment, but Gordon, who is the managing partner of the new office for Duane Morris, said in a statement that Dallas has an “extremely positive business climate for entrepreneurs,” is home to a number of Fortune 500 companies’ headquarters, and presents opportunities with many technology, health care, financial, energy and transportation clients.

Castle added that Taylor’s vision for Texas is exciting. [...] Duane Morris launched its Houston office in 1999, and added Austin in 2017. [...]

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