The newly elected CEO of Lone Star State mid- sized Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr PC is proud of the nearly 40-year history of success of the firm and plans to keep it on its current trajectory when he takes the helm at the start of 2025

David Coligado, a Dallas-based shareholder who joined the firm as an associate nearly 25 years ago, currently leads the firm's real estate section and has served for years on the operations committee, he said. The firm announced last month that Coligado had been elected as the next CEO.

"This is basically my third job out of law school," Coligado said. "Munsch Hardt is a great place to practice law."

After earning his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law, Coligado spent more than two years practicing with Locke Lord LLP before joining Goldman Sachs Commercial Mortgage Capital, his LinkedIn profile shows. After more than two years with Goldman Sachs, Coligado joined Munsch Hardt.

Coligado said he and current CEO Phil Appenzeller Jr. – who has led Munsch Hardt for a decade – have been working hand-in-hand to ensure a smooth transition.

Coligado said he definitely sees opportunities for growth for the firm and intends to "cling to the North Star" established by the firm's founders. Munsch Hardt is committed "to exceeding our client's expectations and our collaborative, teamwork approach to the work," Coligado said.

"Munsch Hardt is an organization with heart. We have genuine relationships not only among our colleagues but also with our clients," he added. "Those are the things that stand the test of time."

Law360 Pulse recently sat down with Coligado to talk about his goals and plans for the firm. The responses have been edited for length and clarity.

What made you want to take on this leadership role?

It's really the same thing that makes me want to be a good lawyer. I want to provide excellent service and what's best for the stakeholders at our firm. We have a lot of quality people who have put their careers into our firm and I want to continue to do what is best for them.

Phil and I joined the firm within nine months of each other. He's seen us through a lot of positive growth, and he got us through Covid. I think there are such great opportunities to continue the growth that Phil has started.

[Founding partner] Rick Kopf told me after it was announced that I would be the next CEO: "Just don't mess it up." So that's what I'll try to do.

What do you see as the firm's greatest strengths?

The law industry, especially here in Texas, is kind of segmented into the large national firms who've all moved to town in the last five to eight years, and you've got small boutiques, and then there is a very small handful of mid-sized law firms like Munsch Hardt.

Our firm in particular can provide the equal level of expertise that you get at a national firm with a more personal touch to the service. The relationships that develop between the client and the lawyer at Munsch Hardt is a genuine, personal relationship. We don't necessarily get hired because of the name brand, it's the relationships our attorneys have with our clients and with each other.

Our real estate and bankruptcy groups have truly been the engines of our firm. That being said, our largest group is our commercial litigation group, which is fantastic. We've also got a great intellectual property group, amazing labor and employment, partnership divorce, and we've got great tax partners and a strong corporate group. We cover the gamut of what you'd expect from a full-service commercial law firm.

Where do you see opportunities for growth?

As far as markets, I think there are still a lot of opportunities in our Houston office. Most of our [about 165] lawyers are in Dallas, and we currently have locations in Dallas, Houston and Austin, and I'm very interested in Tarrant County [which includes the Fort Worth region]. I think the economic growth of Tarrant County is to be noted.

I think we have to be very purposeful, because if you try to stake a Tarrant County office with lawyers who aren't from Tarrant County – that doesn't work. Luckily, we have a couple of attorneys who are already longtime practitioners in Tarrant County and that gives us a leg up in trying to get more of a foothold there. I plan to have more of a presence in Tarrant County within the next couple of years.

You've got to keep your eyes open to see where the opportunities are. And honestly, we go where the clients take us.

What about practice areas?

I think that middle-market M&A and private equity need law firms like Munsch Hardt who can service that market without a New York firm with $2,000 per hour rates. There's a big opportunity there for us.

What some of these middle market companies, startups and entrepreneurs are looking for is not just basic legal services. They're looking for counselors, they're looking for that relationship. You want your lawyers here in Texas who know Texas. A lot of these smaller companies don't have in- house counsel and what they really need is an outside general counsel. We have several partners, including myself, who serve in that role for our clients.

And it's more than just giving legal advice, it's counseling them on legal risks and working through the business risks associated with those legal risks. We want to be part of their team, we want to help our clients be successful in what they're pursuing.

What is it that attracts attorneys to Munsch Hardt and what keeps them, like you, on the roster for so long?

It has been a really strong lateral market for us and I think our focus is on those lawyers with practices that would really benefit from getting that full-service law firm experience without those national rates. We're seeing candidates from firms that are smaller than ours who need that step up in platform, and we're also seeing candidates who've been kind of frustrated with the big law firm model. Our firm offers a good alternative.

Most of my partners have been here for a long time. I've got great friends I've developed over the years. I've seen them have their first kid, their second kid, and now we're seeing those kids go to college. It's a family atmosphere, we know each other. And while I think that personal experience is important, that alone won't keep someone at a law firm.

We have interesting practices, other partners here who can help support your practice and clients. I can talk to my tax partner, Chris Speer, and we can talk through a complicated tax structure for one of my real estate clients. One of the things I hear from our attorneys who have left big national firms is that when they need help from somebody in a different practice area, they get bounced around through a couple of different offices and basically a stranger helps them on their project.