Delgado, Acosta, Braden and Jones, one of El Paso's larger law firms, is being dissolved, and three of its partners have joined forces with an Austin law firm.

Alejandro Acosta Jr. and Hector Delgado, who opened their law firm in 1994, and John Jones, who became a partner in 1995, have become partners of Bickerstaff, Heath, Pollan & Caroom, which has changed its name to Bickerstaff, Heath, Delgado & Acosta. It specializes in state and local government law.

Acosta has become CEO of the Austin-based firm, which now has offices in El Paso, where Acosta and Delgado will be based. Their new firm will retain the Dallas and Houston offices operated by Delgado and Acosta's old firm. Jones will oversee the Houston office.

Two other lawyers in the El Paso firm have moved to the Austin firm while 11 of the El Paso firm's other lawyers have found jobs or opened their own practices, Acosta said.

"We (Bickerstaff, Heath, Delgado & Acosta) are now the largest minority-owned firm in the Southwest with over 30 lawyers statewide," Acosta said.
"We have clients throughout the state and we wanted a statewide firm. ... This makes us a bigger and better firm."

C. Robert Heath, who founded his firm in 1980 along with his now-retired partner Steve Bickerstaff, said, "We had worked with (the) Delgado, Acosta (firm) for several years largely in some matters in El Paso, and we had a good working relationship and great respect for them, and when we determined the possibility of joining together -- that offered some great opportunities for both of us."

The firm now has 18 partners, Heath said.

Paul Braden, the other partner in the El Paso law firm, has become a partner in Fulbright & Jaworski, an international law firm. Braden will work out of El Paso.

Fulbright & Jaworski "is a great firm with a global presence and one of the pre-eminent bond practices in the country (which is the area of the law in which I practice)," Braden said in a written statement.

Two of the Delgado, Acosta firm's lawyers also moved to the Bickerstaff, Heath firm: Ricardo Ortiz is in the Dallas office, and Catherine Than is in the Houston office.

Vic Kolenc may be reached at vkolenc@elpasotimes.com; 546-6421.

For more information: www.bickerstaff.com; www.delgadoacosta.com.