About the Firm
The law firm Naman, Howell, Smith & Lee, a registered limited liability partnership, with offices in Austin, Fort Worth, Harker Heights, Temple, and Waco, Texas was founded in 1917. The firm has approximately 50 attorneys and has been providing legal services for over 85 years in Texas. The firm has a broad regional and statewide civil practice in various areas, including litigation, business, estate planning, telecommunications, tax, real estate, oil and gas, banking, tax-exempt financing, intellectual property, utility and environmental law, employee benefits, bankruptcy, and administrative work. The firm represents a variety of clients who are involved in a diverse and challenging array of activities.
The firm's attorneys are graduates of various law schools, including Baylor School of Law, the University of Texas School of Law, Texas Tech School of Law, St. Mary's School of Law, University of Houston Law School, and Duke University School of Law. Various attorneys held clerkship positions with both State and Federal judges. For more current information about the firm and our lawyers, please visit the "What's New" section of our website.
Continuing Legal Education
The firm is committed to continuing legal education. The firm's attorneys meet or exceed the State Bar mandated requirements for continuing legal education, attending legal seminars and conferences throughout Texas, and frequently throughout the Unites States.
Members of the firm are frequent speakers at seminars for other attorneys as well as for certain segments of the business community. The firm regularly sponsors seminars for the business community and for the firm's clients.
Several members of the firm are adjunct professors of law, teaching courses in banking, workers compensation, school law, securities regulation, and taxation.
Professional Involvement
The firm's attorneys are actively involved in both State and Federal bar associations. Two members of the firm are former Presidents of the State Bar of Texas and two members of the firm are former Presidents of the Texas Young Lawyers Association. Several attorneys have served on both the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors and the Texas Young Lawyers Association Board of Directors. Several attorneys have served as President of their local bar associations.
Civic and Charitable Work
The firm and its members have been active in civic and charitable organizations. The firm's members have served as Mayor and City Council members of their communities as well as on various boards and committees. Members have been actively involved in community and charitable endeavors.
Support Staff
The firm employs quality support staff, including legal assistants, administrative personnel, secretaries, bookkeeping personnel, librarians, and computer experts.
Legal assistants are used to perform tasks assisting the attorneys in trial preparation and transactional materials, with the objective of increasing the efficiency of the practice of law at a cost savings to clients. Legal assistants usually have college degrees or the equivalent and receive on the-job training, and several have prior work experience in related fields.
Firm Equipment and Resources
The firm has a complete legal library, staffed with two librarians. The firm's main library and specialty libraries contain over forty thousand volumes. The firm has access to computerized legal research through Westlaw and Lexis-Nexis. Use of these computerized legal research systems gives the firm expedient and cost efficient access to almost every legal publication that exists.
The firm's operations are totally computerized, including bookkeeping, word processing, docket control, case management, form banks, legal research, and conflicts. The firm is networked such that research and documents can be shared and easily retrieved for more efficient rendering of services. The firm has complete communications capabilities through the use of e-mail.
The firm is a member of ALFA International (ALFA), an organization of law firms in the United States and numerous countries throughout the world. ALFA is the oldest and largest American based nonprofit association of law firms operating worldwide. Membership is by invitation only. Cullen Smith, in our Waco office, served as Chairman of ALFA from 1989 to 1990.
Naman Howell Smith & Lee, LLP is a member of the ALFA International legal network. The ALFA network is comprised of 125 law firms with nearly 300 offices throughout the United States and around the World. The 85 U.S. firms and 40 international members employ over 8,000 lawyers and 10,000 legal support staff. As an ALFA member, Naman Howell is able to draw upon the vast resources of the network’s membership to better serve its clients. ALFA affiliation also facilitates and expedites the retention of outstanding counsel in unfamiliar jurisdictions, another significant client benefit. More information about the ALFA legal network can be found at www.alfainternational.com.