5 Dallas Partners Form New Firm, Plan to Grow to 30 Lawyers in 3 Years
Five Dallas partners from well-known law firms, four of them women, have formed a new partnership housed in a 12,000-square-foot office space on the 41st floor of the Renaissance Tower.
Spencer Crain Cubbage Healy & McNamara envisions having about 30 lawyers working there within the next two to three years, Jennifer Jackson Spencer, who is also a CPA, tells Texas Lawyer. The new firm plans to focus on litigation, labor and employment, business immigration and alternative dispute resolution.
In addition to Spencer, who came from Fulbright & Jaworski, the other name partners are Gayla Crain and Elise Healy, formerly at Epstein Becker & Green; Brenda Cubbage, from Greenberg Traurig; and Larry McNamara, from Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell. All were partners at their former firms, notes a Business Wire press release.
Another Epstein Becker partner, Mark Downey, and three associates also are joining Spencer Crain. Epstein Becker announced earlier this year that it plans to close its Dallas office.
Spencer tells Texas Lawyer that she intentionally recruited seasoned women lawyers when forming the firm, and expects that being primarily owned and operated by women will be a plus factor for the firm with corporations seeking to diversify their legal representation. She made the decision to pursue the new venture on Feb. 25, only a few months before Spencer Crain opened its doors on May 1.
“It was my 45th birthday, and I have 20 years left to practice, and what better way to hook up with lawyers that I like and have immense respect for and create something that I thought was woman-owned and [with] the ability to come up with some flexible billing arrangements,” she says.
