Jackson Walker

Jackson Walker is the largest firm contained completely in Texas. The firm has more than 500 attorneys practicing in a broad range of practice areas in six offices across the Lone Star State: Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Angelo, and San Antonio. Jackson Walker represents 9 of the Fortune 10, 45 of the Fortune 100, and 167 of the Fortune 500. Internationally, attorneys have represented clients in more than 85 countries and territories, and the firm is a founding member of Globalaw, a worldwide network of law firms with offices throughout the U.S. and in more than 58 countries worldwide.

Big Dallas Beginnings

Jackson Walker was established in 1887 when former schoolteacher W.J.J. Smith started his practice in Dallas. In the 1890s, brothers John and George Robertson came to Dallas and entered into a partnership with Smith. In the early days, the firm then known as Smith, Robertson & Robertson helped to form The Dallas Times Herald, the Dallas County Gas Company, and railroads, insurance companies, and other businesses that emerged as the city became a commercial hub. Both of the current name partners joined the firm in 1948. J. Paul Jackson was an experienced oil and gas and tax attorney who argued several times before the Supreme Court during his career. A.W. "Jess" Walker, Jr. was a law professor at the University of Texas School of Law for 23 years and was known as the father of Texas oil and gas law. The firm became known as Robertson, Jackson, Payne, Lancaster and Walker before changing to Jackson & Walker LLP in 1988. It later became Jackson Walker LLP.

Wide Ranging

With dozens of practices across, Jackson Walker is a multi-faceted force whose reach goes way beyond the Lone Star State. Among its focuses are bankruptcy, cybersecurity and privacy, energy, environmental law, finance and banking, healthcare, IP, international law, labor and employment, land use, real estate, regulatory law, tax, trusts & estates, and white collar. The firm is particularly well known for its energy work and has been recognized by the likes of Chambers, U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms,” and The Best Lawyers in America. Another significant area at the firm is its healthcare practice through which the firm takes a multi-disciplinary approach—lawyers from the firm’s Bankruptcy, Finance, Government Affairs, Corporate, Labor & Employment, Real Estate, and Tax groups join together to address healthcare clients’ complex needs.

JW2

For more than a decade, Jackson Walker has been home to an active women’s initiative called JW2. Among the program’s goals is to help women lawyers at the firm build successful careers and develop strong networks. The firm hosts networking events like lunches, community service events, and more. It prioritizes retention through alternative work schedules—which are actually embraced and not mere lip service. And the firm is one of just over 30 firms that participate in the OnRamp Fellowship.

• In 1980, Jackson Walker helped incorporate the Dallas Mavericks. In 2023, a Jackson Walker team represented Mark Cuban and the Mavericks in the sale of a controlling interest in the team, listed as one of the year’s top 15 M&A deals by The Texas Lawbook.
• In 1998, partners Chip Babcock and Nancy Hamilton successfully defended Oprah Winfrey and Harpo Productions in a libel suit brought by two Texas cattlemen.
• In 2019, Jackson Walker advised iconic Texas fast-food chain Whataburger in the sale of a majority interest to BDT Capital Partners, LLC, a Chicago-based merchant bank that advises and invests in family and founder-led companies.
• Jackson Walker is leading the pack in handling the fallout from the February 2021 Texas winter storms. The Texas Supreme Court's Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation granted a request to consolidate 157 related cases involving ERCOT and other defendants facing lawsuits over loss of power and water services during the storms.

• Top Performer, 2023 – Leadership Council on Legal Diversity
• Mansfield Certification, 2022-2023 – Diversity Lab
• 25 National and 134 Metro Rankings in Best Law Firms, 2024 – Best Lawyers
• 51 attorneys and 17 departments ranked, 2023 – Chambers USA
• “Most Feared In Litigation,” 2021-2024 – BTI Consulting Group