S. Michael Dunn, 37
Carmelo Gordian, 41
William Hulsey III, 45
Paul Hurdlow, 40
Paul Tobias, 35
Austin
Ask ten people to name the most powerful attorney in Texas high-tech and you'll get ten different answers; as a sage observer puts it, "When you've seen one Gucci-soled lawyer, you've seen a thousand." But you can't ignore the powerful Northern California law firms that in recent years have opened offices in Austin to service the exploding number of high-tech companies. Among the biggest players are Dunn and Gordian, a partner and the firm-wide chairman of the business and technology group, respectively, at Brobeck, Phleger, and Harrison; Hulsey and Hurdlow, a partner and the managing partner, respectively, of Gray, Cary, Ware, and Friedenrich; and Tobias, a managing partner of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich, and Rosati. The Silicon Valley suits may be mostly transplants from the West Coast (the notable exception is Tobias, who's an Austin native), but they keep the wheels of our high-tech industry turning, focusing on everything from corporate securities to mergers and acquisitions, IPOs, and intellectual property.