Firm Founders - Richard Haynes, Michael Boone, Haynes and Boone, LLP

Haynes and Boone, LLP came about from the efforts and dreams of two lawyers, Richard Haynes, and his former student Mike Boone. Together they and many other talented individuals built an organization around collaboration and mutual respect and on absolute dedication to providing clients with value.

Richard Haynes grew up in Oklahoma and initially attended the University of Oklahoma Law School. He briefly interrupted his studies to serve as a first lieutenant in the US Air Force from 1955-1957. After his career in the Air Force, Haynes continued his study of law at Washington and Lee University Law school, graduating in 1958. Haynes later became a member of the school’s board of trustees and received the Omicron Delta Kappa Order of the Coif for his longstanding contributions to the law school.

After practicing at an Oklahoma-based firm, Haynes opened his own practice with only $1,600 to his name and took on a wide variety of clients from Republic National Bank to small manufacturing companies and finance firms.

Mike Boone was a law student, sitting in his corporate securities class at Dedman School of Law when his professor, Richard Haynes, asked him to stay after class. Haynes made Boone an offer he couldn’t refuse-an offer to start their own law firm together. After graduation, Haynes and Boone formed their partnership on January 1, 1970. Today, Haynes and Boone is ranked among America’s largest law firms by The National Law Journal and The American Lawyer – a testament to the strength of the founders’ vision.

Part of their founding commitment was to attract the best students from all walks of life. Haynes and Boone was the first firm in Texas to hire women, beginning with Nina Cortell in 1976 after she graduated from the University of Texas Law School. Cortell, who received the Texas Bar Foundation’s “Outstanding Appellate Lawyer” Award in 2016, marked the beginning of the firm’s commitment to diversity. Haynes and Boone is dedicated to recruiting a diverse spectrum of lawyers and continually expands its efforts to recruit, retain and promote lawyers of all backgrounds. Haynes and Boone has been widely recognized as a pioneer in the area of diversity and inclusion, including ranking as a Top 10 law firm for minority attorneys by Law360 in 2018 and receiving PracticePro’s Diversity Leadership Award in 2017. The Haynes and Boone of today is an international corporate law firm with more than 550 lawyers in 16 offices and 40 major legal practice areas, providing a full range of legal services in energy, technology, financial services and private equity.

Haynes and Boone has also received multiple honors for its approach to client service including recognition in BTI Consulting Group’s 2018 survey of corporate general counsel, who ranked the firm in the “Client Service Honor Roll” in all 17 of the 17 activities that clients consider the drivers of superior client relationships.

The firm carries with it a progressive, entrepreneurial spirit that has always animated the firm. It prides itself in working differently than other firms, being forward-thinking, and preparing for the dynamically changing world of business law.