SettlePou is excited to be celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. What started out as a casual discussion between two boyhood friends during their final year of law school, ultimately led to the formation of a law firm that has withstood the test of both time and the many fluctuations in our local and national economies. Over the past thirty years, there has been a lot of change worldwide — the introduction and growth of personal computers, the tearing down of the Berlin Wall and the proliferation and use of the Internet, to name a few. Within this same time period, there
have also been many changes at SettlePou.
Thirty years ago, the Firm focused solely on commercial lending and real estate transactions. Its first location was a three room office located at the corner of Mockingbird and Central, right next to what is now Mockingbird Station. Co-founders Jay Settle and Robert Pou remember Brookhollow Bank as one of the Firm’s very first clients. “Brookhollow was acquired by Regions Bank,” said Pou, “and they are still a client of our firm.” Now with over thirty attorneys covering six major practice areas and a variety of sub specialties, SettlePou has outlived many of the firms that were in existence when the doors first opened in 1978. Despite the Firm’s tremendous growth, and the expansion of its practice areas and client base, those within the Firm have never lost sight of the values and principles which led to the Firm’s success.
Allen Smith, President of the Firm and Chairman of its litigation practice group, attributes the growth and success of the Firm to its people. “We hire quality people,” commented Smith. “As a firm, we have a very clear understanding of who we are and where we are going, and we hire and retain the people who believe in our mission and who exhibit the qualities outlined in our Firm’s core values.”
Each employee at Settle- Pou embraces the Firm’s humble beginnings and recognizes that the growth of the Firm, and its client base, is a direct result of the Firm’s clientoriented mindset. The Firm’s motto, “Big Firm Expertise, Coupled With Small-Firm Attention,” acknowledges SettlePou’s expanded client base, national reputation, and diverse practice areas, while highlighting the quality of which it is the most proud – each employee’s unwavering commitment to provide superior service and product excellence. “That’s what distinguishes SettlePou from other firms”, commented Smith. “That’s who we are; that’s our DNA.”
Smith also pointed to the Firm’s clerkship program as helping to improve the Firm’s measured growth over the years. “In the mid-90’s, the firm began a structured clerkship program, formally recruiting top law students as clerks to work at the Firm during their law school summer breaks,” said Smith. “The goal of this program was, and is, to discover and hire the best young talent, and it has worked out very well for us.” SettlePou has doubled in size since implementing the clerkship program, and today this program is the backbone of the Firm’s hiring process. Thirteen of the attorneys within the Firm are a product of that clerkship program.
As SettlePou reflects on its past, it also looks forward to the future. “We have obviously learned a lot over the past 30 years,” said Smith, “and we are constantly looking for ways to better ourselves and improve every aspect of the services we provide to our clients. We are a great firm, with a lot of exceptionally talented people, and we are getting better and better every day. I am excited to think about where this Firm will be thirty years from now.”