Brian Newby, who joined Cantey Hanger in 1991 but left the Fort Worth firm for several years to serve as Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s general counsel and chief of staff, is now running the firm.

Cantey Hanger’s partnership elected litigator Newby to be managing partner as of June 1, succeeding Michael Appleman, who had served in that role since 2015. Cantey Hanger has 70 lawyers in Fort Worth and Dallas. Newby said he is not aware of any comparable or larger firm in Texas led by an African American male.