Locke Lord LLP issued the following announcement on Aug. 26.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson has joined Locke Lord’s Dallas office as a Partner in the Firm’s nationally recognized Public Finance Practice Group.
On June 17, 2019, Johnson became only the second elected African American Mayor in Dallas history. Before becoming Mayor, he served nine years in the Texas House of Representatives. During his tenure in the Texas Legislature, he served on 20 major legislative committees and as the Chairman of the Dallas Area Legislative Delegation.
“Mayor Johnson is very well regarded within the business community in North Texas and throughout the state, is a Dallas native, and has been practicing law in Dallas for over 15 years, bringing to the Firm a depth of experience in the public finance industry,” said Locke Lord Chair David Taylor. “We are honored someone of his caliber and background who shares our Firm’s core values is now a Partner.”
“Locke Lord’s Dallas roots date back to 1891 with the Dallas office playing an integral role in the city’s corporate and civic life,” said Whit Roberts, Deputy Managing Partner of the Dallas office. “We are thrilled that Mayor Johnson is joining Locke Lord — he shares our commitment to serving not just our clients, but our city. His background is extraordinary in both legal and civic endeavors, and his experience in public finance will be invaluable to our Firm.”
Johnson most recently worked at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, and prior to that at Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP, where he helped establish both firms’ presence in the North Texas public finance market. He received a bachelor’s degree with honors from Harvard University, a master’s degree in public affairs from Princeton University and a juris doctor degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
“I have long respected Locke Lord, its lawyers, its public finance practice, and its deep ties to the Dallas community,” Mayor Johnson said. “I’m excited to be joining such a venerated law firm. I can’t think of a better situation — working for the people of my hometown as their Mayor, and practicing law with some of the most talented lawyers in the world. I’m also looking forward to working closely with Firm leadership to further enhance the Firm’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.
“To Dallas’ residents, I want to say that my duties as Mayor will always come first. As a practicing lawyer in my early 40s, however, it is also important that I maintain my law license and continue to practice law as time allows,” Mayor Johnson said. “And I will always do so in accordance with all applicable laws, as well as the ethical standards of the legal profession, with respect to conflicts of interest.”
Locke Lord’s Public Finance Practice Group has one of the largest bond counsel practices in the country. For more than 130 years, the Firm has been involved in the law of public borrowing and the federal tax and securities aspects of public debt obligations. The Firm’s public finance lawyers have extensive experience nationwide serving as bond counsel, disclosure counsel, underwriter’s counsel, issuer’s counsel, borrower’s counsel, bank counsel, special tax counsel and trustee’s counsel for governmental and quasi-governmental issuers, special purpose entities, tax-exempt organizations and other entities and financial institutions.
Locke Lord is consistently ranked among the top public finance practices nationally. According to Thomson Reuters, the Firm ranked fourth among top bond counsel based on competitive sales for the first half of 2019 with 94 issues, which was the second-highest number of any firm. Locke Lord also ranked third among The Bond Buyer’s list of top bond counsel in the Northeast for the first half of 2019.
In addition to his role as Mayor of Dallas and Partner at Locke Lord, Johnson is the Regional Chairman of the Princeton Prize in Race Relations and serves on the Board of the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.