History

Locke Lord has forged long-standing business relationships and built a world-renowned reputation for providing clients comprehensive legal counsel since the late 19th century. From those modest origins, the Firm has evolved into a global leader providing counsel to a host of Fortune 500 companies and positioning itself for continued success throughout the 21st century.

The timeline below provides a snapshot of our history that has led to a unique culture driven by strategic growth — allowing us to partner with our clients to help provide solutions to the challenges they face.

1887	Moorfield Storey, John Larkin Thorndike and Sherman Hoar form Storey, Thorndike & Hoar in Boston. Storey was a former Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney, while Thorndike’s work contributed to the Firm’s early extensive practice in corporate finance. Hoar went on to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.
1891	Maurice Locke, a former mathematics professor at Valparaiso University, begins practicing law in Dallas. Prominent business lawyer Bradley W. Palmer, recognized for his service to the U.S. government during World War I, becomes a name Partner in Boston, establishing Storey, Thorndike & Palmer.
1894	Stephen O. Edwards and Walter Foster Angell, both Brown University graduates active in the business and civic life of Rhode Island, form a partnership in Providence known as Edwards & Angell.
1909	Moorfield Storey becomes inaugural President of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a position he holds until his death in 1929.
1910	Noted trial lawyer Robert G. Dodge, one of the original organizers of the Massachusetts Bar Association, joins in Boston establishing Storey, Thorndike, Palmer & Dodge.
1914	Donald R. Richberg, Harold Ickes and John Lord form one of the first groups of lawyers that would become the basis of the Firm's Chicago office. Richberg would head the National Recovery Administration and Ickes would later become Secretary of the Interior in President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration.
1916	The Houston office opens when William Huggins and Paul Kayser form a partnership known as Huggins & Kayser. The first client is Jesse Jones, the owner of the Houston Chronicle and countless other business interests, who later served as the Secretary of Commerce in President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration.
1921	Frank Liddell becomes a Partner in the Firm's Houston office and is quickly recognized as an outstanding trial lawyer.
1924	With Partners Charles L. Cobb and George Wire, John Lord opens Lord, Wire & Cobb in Chicago.
1929	The Firm files Lloyd's first financial statement in Illinois. The Lloyd's underwriting market subsequently increases exponentially in the United States.
1931	Cushman Bissell Sr. and L. Duncan Lloyd become name Partners in Chicago, creating Lord, Lloyd & Bissell.
1936	Former Illinois Assistant Attorney General David J. Kadyk joins the Chicago partnership and becomes a name Partner two years later.
1945	The Chicago office, composed of nine Partners and 15 Associates, focuses on the substantial real estate development brought on by the end of World War II.
1946	Charles Sapp joins the Firm in Houston and helps create one of the first national law school recruiting programs.
1950	Edwards & Angell hires first female lawyer, Beverly Long, who was admitted to the partnership in 1959.
1951	Janice M. Richardson becomes the first female lawyer to join the Firm's Chicago office. The same year, Cushman Bissell takes the helm as President of the Chicago Bar Association.
1954	In Chicago, Herbert Brook becomes a name Partner, changing the name of the firm from Lord, Bissell & Kadyk to Lord, Bissell & Brook.
1959	In Dallas, Locke, Locke & Purnell becomes Locke, Purnell, Boren, Laney & Neely.
1965	Six attorneys form Rain, Harrell, Emery, Young & Doke — another predecessor firm — in Dallas.
1967	Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon, another predecessor firm, is established in Chicago.
1969	Palmer & Dodge admits the first female lawyer, Virginia Aldrich, to its partnership, the first woman Partner of any major Boston law firm. Walter P. Zivley joins the Houston office and the predecessor firm’s name becomes Liddell, Dawson, Sapp & Zivley.
1974	The Firm opens its Austin office to offer government relations services and represent Austin's growing business sector.
1976	Fleischman and Walsh is established in Washington, D.C., later becomes Fleischman and Harding.
1978-2005	The predecessor firms establish offices in Los Angeles, New York, Florida, Connecticut, New Jersey, Atlanta, New Orleans and Washington, D.C.
1987	The merger between Locke, Purnell, Boren, Laney & Neely and Rain, Harrell, Emery, Young & Doke forms Locke Purnell Rain Harrell in Dallas and creates one of the largest law firms in the Southwest. The Firm's London office opens to expand the insurance and reinsurance practices internationally.
1996	Harriet Miers becomes the first woman to lead predecessor firm Locke Purnell Rain Harrell as Firm President. More than 25 years earlier, she was the first woman to join Locke, Purnell, Boren, Laney & Neely.
1999	Locke Purnell Rain Harrell and Liddell Sapp Zivley Hill & LaBoon merge to form Locke Liddell & Sapp, then the largest law firm merger in U.S. history. Miers and Bruce LaBoon become Co-Managing Partners of the Firm.
2001	Miers joins the Bush Administration as Assistant to the President & Staff Secretary to President George W. Bush. She later serves as White House Counsel before returning to the Firm in 2007.
2005	Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge is established with the merger of Edwards & Angell and Palmer & Dodge.
2007	Lord Bissell & Brook and Locke Liddell & Sapp combine to form Locke Lord. Jerry Clements becomes Chair of the combined Firm and the second woman at the helm in the Firm's history.
2009	Locke Lord opens a San Francisco office and significantly increases the size of its New York office to increase the depth of its already strong IP practice.
2011	Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge merges with Fleischman and Harding. Edwards Wildman Palmer is established with the merger of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge and Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon.
2012	Locke Lord expands its London office, providing full-service offerings in the UK as well as a gateway to the Firm's international work in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
2015	Locke Lord combines with Edwards Wildman Palmer, significantly expanding its footprint in key strategic U.S. and international markets.
2016	Locke Lord opens a Cincinnati office as part of the Firm’s continued expansion of its Public Finance Practice Group.
2018	Unanimously nominated by Locke Lord’s Leadership Succession Committee and then by the Firm’s Executive Committee before being ratified by the Firm’s Partners, David Taylor is named Locke Lord Chair.

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