Phelps Dunbar Opens in Dallas With 5-Lawyer Litigation Team From Boutique

Law.com published this article May 1, 2026.

Continuing a steady expansion in Texas, Phelps Dunbar has opened an office in Dallas, adding a five-lawyer team of litigators, including two partners, from Dallas boutique Johnston Clem Gifford.

New Orleans-founded Phelps Dunbar moved into the Texas market in 1990 with an office in Houston, and has since added Fort Worth, Austin, Southlake and now Dallas.

"It’s really additive for us. It’s consistent with what our long-term strategic objective is—to become more entrenched in Texas and serve our clients in Texas," said Marshall Redmon, Phelps Dunbar's managing partner.

Partners Kenneth "KJ" Johnston and Robert Griffin, along with counsel P. Blaine Grant, Kodie Bennion and Catherine (Kate) Gaither, joined Phelps Dunbar on Friday. They advise banks, lenders and financial services companies on complex litigation, and also represent companies in the energy, health care, technology and transportation sectors.

Redmon said the Am Law 200 firm opened a Dallas office because of the opportunity to hire the Johnston Clem team.

"On the broader picture, we are in Fort Worth and we are in Southlake, and those provide us with a meaningful foundation there, but this combination with these people in Dallas proper gives us a completion, if you will, of the Metroplex," he said.

Redmon said a few Phelps Dunbar business lawyers from the Southlake office will move to the Dallas office in the near future as the firm establishes a team there with corporate and litigation capability.  

"That will be part of what we expect the growth pattern will be of the Dallas office," Redmon said.

The litigation team strengthens the firm's banking and financial services team, and also its bankruptcy and reorganization team.

Johnston said they decided to move to Phelps Dunbar because of a good cultural fit, along with benefits to their practice and for their clients.

"Right off the bat, just a deeper bench, more geographic coverage. We go from one shop in Dallas to now more," he said.

Beyond that, Johnston said, he's received dozens of inquiries from firms every year, but Phelps Dunbar was different. The firm has not only been in Houston for a long time, but he was also impressed with the strength of the Southlake and Fort Worth offices.

"Something is going well here. It's hard to crack the code in Fort Worth," he said.

Litigator David Clem, who was a partner in Johnston Clem Gifford, joined Blank Rome in Dallas, along with an associate from the firm, in June 2025.