New managing partner Wade Cooper to take the helm of Jackson Walker on Presidents Day

On Feb. 15, Wade Cooper (pictured, left) will become managing partner of Dallas-based Jackson Walker, succeeding Michael Wilson (pictured, right), who has been managing partner since 1992. Cooper, managing partner of the firm’s Austin office since 2006 and a member of the firm’s management committee, says he intends to follow the path set by Wilson. “We had a strategic plan a couple years ago, and we’re not going to depart from that — remain independent, continue to grow our Texas base, develop our depth of expertise,” Cooper says. In recent years, Cooper says he’s also been the member of the management committee working with the firm’s 14 practice groups. Cooper says he will continue to live in Austin but expects to travel a lot to the 336-lawyer firm’s offices in Dallas, Houston, Fort Worth, San Antonio and San Angelo. Cooper says Wilson will be his “mentor and coach.” “He will take the lead in coordinating our lateral hiring. He will also remain involved in our compensation process,” Cooper says. Cooper, who has a commercial litigation, arbitration and bankruptcy practice, says he plans to continue to do some legal work as managing partner.

-- Brenda Sapino Jeffreys