Front Page || Main Index || Corpus Christi News || Business || Texas || Sports || Entertainment || Selena
Tuesday, Aug. 4, 1998
Local office part of big legal merger
Wells Pinckney & McHugh here to be part of state's 9th biggest firm
By GLASTON FORD
Staff WriterThe San Antonio-based law firm of Wells Pinckney & McHugh, which has an office in Corpus Christi, and the Dallas-based law firm of Strasburger & Price, L.L.P. will merge, the firms announced Monday.
The combined firm, which will operate under the name Strasburger & Price, L.L.P., will have 235 lawyers, including six in Corpus Christi, making it the ninth largest in the state, according to The Texas Lawyer, a weekly trade newspaper for the legal community. It will have offices in Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, Austin, Corpus Christi and Mexico City.
The combination of the two firms will expand the services offered to clients, said local attorney M. Colleen McHugh, a partner with Wells Pinckney & McHugh.
If a client has a need for services in another area of law, the new firm will be able to handle it, said McHugh, who specializes in management, labor and employment law.
``While we've had that ability before this combination of practices, we have not had so many lawyers with so many talents,'' McHugh said.
Mergers are as common in the legal business as they are in the rest of corporate America, said San Antonio-attorney J. Tullos Wells, president of Wells Pinckney & McHugh.
The trend has gone in cycles with single-practice firms and megafirms at various times being the ``future'' of the industry, he said.
``Our sense is you have to take good care of your clients,'' he said. ``One of the ways you do that is by being able to provide a range of services.''
The merger will not result in any change in fee structure, he said.
``To our clients, the only thing that should change is the letterhead, how we answer the phone and the range of services we can offer,'' he said.
The deal puts Strasburger & Price in San Antonio and Corpus Christi for the first time in its almost 60-year-history, said David Meyercord, chairman of Strasburger & Price.
``We like the concept of being in Corpus Christi and in San Antonio,'' he said. ``We have an office in Mexico City, and we do a lot of NAFTA-related stuff.''
The firms also have several areas of practice that will blend naturally, such as labor and employment law, tax controversy and planning, environmental law, and municipal and public law, Meyercord said.
Wells Pinckney & McHugh was formed in 1996 when about 40 attorneys from the San Antonio-firm of Matthews & Branscomb split along practice lines creating a separate firm, which specialized in labor and employment law, Wells said.
The firm has served regional and national clients such as Central Power and Light Co., Golden Corral, Whataburger, Southwest Airlines, the San Antonio Spurs and Levi Strauss, he said.
Both firms were among the top 100 in the state in number of lawyers before the merger. Strasburger & Price was 12th with about 196 lawyers, according to The Texas Lawyer. And Wells Pinckney & McHugh was 61st with about 42 lawyers.
Staff writer Glaston Ford can be reached at 886-3678 or by e-mail at fordg@scripps.comPost your comments about local news eventsFront Page || Main Index || News || Business || Texas || South Texas Outdoors || Birdwatching || Sports || Entertainment || Selena || Education || South Texas Attractions || World Wide Web