Two Law Firms Build Relationship through Participation in NTTA
Diversity Program

Since the NTTA launched its Relationship and Opportunities Advancing Diversity (ROAD) Program in December 2009, six established companies serving as prime contractors for the NTTA have been working with six talented disadvantaged, minority and women-owned business enterprises (D/M/WBE) to enhance their expertise.  One team has gotten much more than they bargained for process.  

The team of law firm Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP (LLBL) and Taylor Law Firm, P.C. were an “arranged marriage,” according to Frank Stevenson of LLBL.  “We were partnered with Nicole Taylor of the Taylor Law Firm, P.C., by the NTTA’s business diversity department, but there isn’t anyone else that I’d rather work with more than Ms. Taylor.  Her thirst for knowledge and work ethic make her an ideal co-counsel.  And they should create a new unit of measurement to describe her energy. A ‘Taylor’ ought to equal the power needed to light a continent for a 1,000 years.”

Nicole Taylor has been working with LLBL to enhance her skills in the areas of right-of-way acquisitions, in addition to other areas of corporate law, which she identified as one of her goals for the program.  This relationship has not been one-sided, though.  Nicole also operates a title company, which the teamed law firms hope to utilize as they lead the right-of-way acquisition for Chisholm Trail Parkway in Tarrant and Johnson counties.  Nicole identified that there were was also the potential to partner on projects available to D/M/WBEs that her firm did not have the resources to do alone. 

“There isn’t a more qualified firm to mentor me about providing legal services to the NTTA.  Locke Lord has worked with the NTTA from its founding and leads the way when it comes to providing legal services for a toll provider,”  Taylor said.  “They’ve embraced the ROAD Program and my firm.  So far, my experience with the ROAD Program has exceeded my expectations.”

Established primarily to help D/M/WBEs build capacity so they are able to compete for larger contracts, the NTTA’s ROAD Program seeks to provide value to both participants.

“The D/M/WBE firms are already succeeding in their respective industries; we want to help them get to the next level through this program,” said Anthony Coleman, NTTA director of business diversity.  “Our primes are leaders in their industries, but the Locke Lord/Taylor team is proof that they stand to gain value through participation in the ROAD Program.”

Stevenson said that LLBL signed up for the program to be able to offer expertise gained over decades of serving the NTTA as outside general counsel to a start-up or beginning law firm.  He said that the ROAD Program is different than other programs like it because "relationships" are at the core of the program.

“I had no idea I’d get the opportunity to work with such an exceptional human being.  The relationship we’ve built has been the most valuable byproduct of this program so far.  I have no doubt that the relationship will continue to grow after the one-year pilot program ends.”

Five other teams are currently defining their own ROAD Program experience.  These teams include:

• PBS&J and Urban Engineers.  Both are engineering firms, with PBS&J specializing on consulting and Urban Engineers specializing in civil engineering and traffic design.
• HNTB Corporation, general engineering consultant, and AZ&B Inc. HNTB specializes in architecture, engineering, planning, environmental, and program management, while AZ&B specializes in highway design and surveying.
• HDR and the Salcedo Group, Inc. HDR is a design and program management firm, while the Salcedo Group specializes in surveying and civil design.
• Jacobs Engineering and IEA, Inc.  Jacobs’ specialties include transportation design, corridor management/program, maintenance/asset manager and environmental services, while IEA specializes in civil engineering.
• Prairie Link Constructors and Vendigm Construction, LLC.  Prairie Link’s specialties in transportation construction, including bridge structures, concrete paving, and retaining walls.  Vendigm is a construction company specializing in concrete work and concrete restoration.