Scott Fiddler was facing a couple of big decisions at his small employment law firm in Houston: a growing workload called for hiring more lawyers, and he unexpectedly lost his firm’s office space. Instead, he chose another path, joining Jackson Walker as a partner in Houston.

Fiddler & Associates, the firm he opened as a young lawyer in 1990, had so much work last fall that he needed to hire two more lawyers, Fiddler said. Then he learned that Harris County, which owned his downtown Houston building, was taking over the space, so Fiddler faced the unpleasant prospect of moving his three-lawyer firm well before his lease was up.