2021 Q2 Newsletter: Austin’s Magnetism

Following a steady drip of companies announcing moves to or expansions in Austin — Apple, Facebook, Tesla, BAE Systems, Realtor.com — we seem to be reaching a crescendo. Austin is solidifying its place as a destination city, where employers can easily relocate their current workforce or draw from the thriving local talent pool. When narrowing its shortlist of potential corporate homes, one CEO gushed about Austin’s romantic, quirky, friendly vibe, as well as the “influx of bright, brilliant people.” 

And law firms are feeling the magnetism too. Of the six new office opens (and one announced) in Texas this year, all but two went to Austin. And they include such heavy-hitters as Kirkland, Quinn Emanuel and O’Melveny.

Combined with two more new offices in 2020, Austin has landed more new firms than Dallas or Houston in the past 18 months. In fairness, this could have to do with the other cities being already saturated with new legal entrants over the past few years. But when the firms’ press releases call Austin a “boom town” with “remarkable growth” and a “dynamic city at the center of exciting changes,” it’s clear they see Austin as the next big thing.