Nashville-headquartered law firm Waller Lansden Dortch and Davis has signed a lease for space on the 22nd floor of the 100 Congress Building in downtown Austin. The move follows Waller announcing its expansion to Austin in June 2012.

The 10,799 square feet of Class A office space will house the firm’s growing team of attorneys and staff led by Waller partners Elizabeth Rogers and Fletcher Brown, as well as Amanda Jester, who is joining the firm on May 6.

Will Douglas and Jerry Frey with CBRE Austin represented Waller in the transaction. Troy Holme and Katie Ekstrom, with CBRE in Austin, represented the landlord, New York-based Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.

“CBRE worked closely with Waller COO Teresa Walker to source a prime CBD location which would give the firm an immediate and noteworthy presence in Austin,” said Jerry Frey, a senior vice president. “We were able to negotiate and bring to consummation the lease transaction in less than 90 days due to Waller’s clear objectives and decisive action.”

A number of local law firms — some headquartered in Nashville, others with prominent offices here — are featured on BTI Consulting Group's recently published BTI Brand Elite ranking of top firms as seen by in-house counsel at many of the world's largest companies. Making the list are locally based firms Bass Berry & Sims and Waller. Ranked firms headquartered elsewhere but with a solid presence here include Adams and Reese, Baker Donelson, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, Burr & Forman, Butler Snow, Frost Brown Todd, Nelson Mullins, Ogletree Deakins, Pillsbury Winthrop and Stites & Harbison.

The consultants' list — check out an executive summary here — features more than 200 firms that score well on recommendations, value delivered and innovation. Of note: The BTI team, which interviewed more than 500 in-house attorneys, did not prompt the lawyers with firm names. All mentions were unsolicited.

Stites & Harbison has opened its ninth office after luring three Cincinnati-area attorneys specializing in construction and real estate law. The outpost in Covington across the Ohio river from downtown Cincinnati will handle cases in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz has recruited a prominent hospital attorney in Huntsville to join the firm. Joe Campbell, who works with just about every prominent publicly owned hospital in North Alabama, told Reuters that Baker Donelson is looking to build a network of public hospital specialists and that moving to the firm also gives him better insight into what's going on in D.C.

Richard G. Cowart, Chair of the Firm's Health and Public Policy Department, added, "Joe is regarded as one of Alabama's top health lawyers and the premier hospital authority attorney in the state. His more than 25 years of health law experience will extend our counsel to many of the region's leading public hospitals, health care authorities and medical centers. He will be a tremendous asset to Baker Donelson as we continue to partner with health care organizations to address the complex and ever-changing challenges that are today's health care environment."

Mississippi-headquartered law firm Butler Snow O'Mara Stevens & Cannada made a heck of a statement last summer when it won the race to land dozens of attorneys looking to leave Miller & Martin. But by the looks of new Pinnacle at Symphony Place offices those attorneys have moved into, there are more statements to come. Butler Snow's space in the Pinnacle covers 46,000 square feet on the 15th and 16th floors and includes a conference center with more than 13,000 square feet of meeting space.

But it's the number of offices on those two floors that caught our eye. The firm is home to fewer than 50 local attorneys, but the Pinnacle footprint comprises 70 offices and can be expanded to about 110. Should Butler Snow grow to triple digits, it would be about the same size as Bradley Arant Boult Cummings and break into the region's top three.

DeSalvo Law Firm officials announced today the firm has relocated its office from historic Germantown to West End Avenue.

The firm, which specializes in entertainment, copyright and trademark law, is now operating from an office located at 1720 West End Ave.

“We are growing over the next few months, adding new attorneys, and offering a broader range of creative services,” Ramona P. DeSalvo (pictured), DLF founding member, said in a release regarding the move. “We are looking forward to an exciting 2013."

DeSalvo is executive producer for a new album on independent record label Vision Records and featuring recording artist Makky Kaylor. Titled A Little Sentimental – A Storybook Album, the album pays homage to the “Nashville Sound” of the 1960s.

Relatedly, the firm is leasing some space to entertainment attorney Christian Barker.

Barker holds a BA from the University of Tennessee, an MBA and JD from Stetson University, and a master’s degree in Environmental Law and Policy from Vermont Law School. He attended the year-long Intellectual Property Exchange at the University of New Hampshire School of Law. 

(Editor's note: This story has been modified to accurately convey the relationship between Barker and DeSalvo Law Firm.)