About

About Our Firm

OUR
HISTORY.

The law firm of Olson & Olson has concentrated its practice in the area of municipal law since its inception. William A. Olson, the firm’s founder, began representing Texas cities immediately following his graduation from Baylor Law School in 1950.

In 1959, he was appointed as the first general counsel of the newly reorganized Texas Municipal League, serving in that capacity until 1963. Later, during a short stint in private practice in Austin, he represented Hank Avery in the case of Avery vs. Midland County (a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court that extended the one-man one-vote rule to local government).

From 1966 to 1974, Mr. Olson served as City Attorney of the City of Houston. In January 1974 he opened a private practice in Houston as William A. Olson, Attorney at Law. Within two months, he had been retained as general counsel by two area municipalities.

The practice became “Olson & Olson” in October 1974 when his older son, William A. Olson, Jr., left a law practice in Waco to join his father in Houston. His younger son, John F. Olson joined the firm in June 1977.

In the years that followed, the firm actively recruited lawyers with substantial experience in representing the interest of local government. In 1984, Kenneth E. Wall resigned his position as City Attorney of the City of Beaumont to join the firm and add to its expertise in local government law. Others followed, including Scott Bounds, whose experience includes service as City Attorney for the cities of Baytown and Huntsville, John J. Hightower whose experience includes service as Chief of the Litigation Section for the City of Houston, and Art Pertile whose experience includes service as City Attorney of Waco.

The firm continues to follow in its founder’s footsteps, concentrating its practice in providing quality legal services to cities, counties, special districts, and other units of local government and their elected and appointed officials. As recently as 2016, the firm’s leadership role in the area of local government law was recognized by U.S News & World Reports which named Olson & Olson, LLP as a Tier 1 Law firm in the practice area of Litigation – Municipal.

WHAT WE DO.

The firm currently serves as outside general counsel for more than 30 cities and other units of local government in southeast Texas. The firm also provides legal services on a special project basis to municipalities and other local governments throughout the State of Texas. Some of the Texas cities for which the firm has provided special services are Austin, Baytown, Clute, Deer Park, Freeport, El Paso, Galveston, Georgetown, Harlingen, Houston, League City, Missouri City, Pasadena, Pearland, Texas City, and Victoria. The firm’s clients also include Harris County, Montgomery County, San Patricio County, the Texas Municipal League-Intergovernmental Risk Pool, the Texas Association of Counties, and various private insurers that offer governmental liability coverage.

The firm’s lawyers are organized into three principal practice groups. One group represents governmental entities and their employees and officials in lawsuits and other disputed matters. A second group provides general counsel and special project services to cities and special districts. The third group serves as special litigation counsel to the Harris Central Appraisal District, and other appraisal districts around the state. The three practice groups complement each other with lawyers from one group often lending their expertise to assist lawyers in another group.

WHO WE ARE.

All of the lawyers at Olson & Olson concentrate their practice in the representation of cities, counties, special districts, and other units of local government. The firm has worked to develop and maintain special expertise in its representation in these areas by hiring lawyers with significant experience in local government law. Lawyers with the firm have served in the past as City Attorney for the cities of Houston, Waco, Beaumont, Baytown, and Huntsville. Others have served as assistant city attorneys and department heads in municipal legal departments.

The firms lawyers are active in professional organizations in the area of local government law, including the International Municipal Lawyers Association, the American Bar Association Section of State and Local Government Law, the Texas City Attorneys Association, the Government Liability Committee of the Defense Research Institute, and the State Bar of Texas Government Lawyers Section and Property Tax Committee.

Lawyers with the firm have presented papers on municipal law subjects at professional conferences held by the International Municipal Lawyers Association, the Texas City Attorneys Association, the State Bar of Texas, the Center for American and International Law, the Texas Municipal League, the University of Texas, the Texas Municipal League – Intergovernmental Risk Pool, and the Houston-Galveston Area Council.

Contact Info

Wortham Tower
2727 Allen Parkway
Suite 600
Houston, TX 77019