September 15, 2008 4:52 PM

After Riding Out Hurricane Ike, Law Firms Get Back to Work

Posted by Dimitra Kessenides

Tex Parte Blog, the blog of our sibling publication Texas Lawyer, has been reporting on the aftereffects of Hurricane Ike in Houston and the surrounding areas.

The posts have included news of federal court closures in Houston and Galveston, according to Hayden Head, chief judge of the Southern District of Texas.

Generators were in high demand, given the loss of power over the weekend. Houston criminal defense lawyer Mark Bennett waited on a line for two hours to purchase one, "so we have power to run the refrigerator, charge laptops and so forth," he told Tex Parte.

Meanwhile, solo practitioner Tom Kirkendall was working out of the front seat of his Infinity Q45. "I've lived in Houston going on 37 years, so I've been through my share of hurricanes," Kirkendall said. "The biggest thing is that you have to be able to function without power."

Did Ike prove as challenging for the city's larger law firms? Vinson & Elkins, one of the city's biggest, made it through fairly unscathed. The firm did close its home office in the First City Tower at 1001 Fannin Street today, but "the building suffered very little damage, allowing some lawyers to come in to work," Tex Parte reports. "We had just a couple of offices where the windows came out. It was very minor damage inside the office," said Marie Yeates, the administrative partner for the Houston office of V&E.

Other large firms report sustaining little damage. News was released by Thompson & Knight this afternoon saying the firm "has fully functional utilities and Internet service as of Monday morning."

Thompson is pulling together a task force to address Hurricane Ike issues, "such as insurance claims, landlord-tenant provisions, and labor and employment matters," according to a statement released by the firm. "We know there will be a high volume of questions, requests, and claims because of Ike and are confident that Thompson & Knight has the resources to fully respond to those needs," Houston managing partner Dallas Parker said in the statement.
 

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