Patton Boggs LLP
Partner and Executive Director
Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc.
Corporate Secretary and Director
Highlands Bancshares, Inc
Co-Founder, Class of 1975
Larry Makel is an entrepreneur as well as a lawyer, a bank director, a school founder, and owner of a hockey arena. One day he may even own part of a professional hockey team. How did he learn this versatility? Makel says W&J taught him how to solve different kinds of problems so that he was prepared for anything.Washington & Jefferson College is the best school in western Pennsylvania , he says. It is small enough that your advisors know how you are doing and they help you respectfully when you are having difficulties. But, with its small classes, you can't hide either. You have to learn.
After his graduation from law school at West Virginia University, Makel's law career led him to an appointment as assistant attorney general of Pennsylvania and then into private practice. In 1997, he started the Dallas, Texas, office of Patton Boggs LLP, an international law firm concentrating in global business that also is recognized as the nation's leading public policy firm. Makel is currently a member of Patton Bogg's executive committee. Patton Boggs is a firm of 500 lawyers and represents most banks in the United States as well as the 9/11 Fund. Makel's particular area of expertise focuses on entrepreneurship business and financial service including structured finance and venture capital as well as the formation of small business, investment corporations, and private investment funds.
In addition, Makel is one of the founders of one of the largest independent banks in Dallas, Texas .Texas Capital Bank Incorporated, which is approximately $4 billion in size. If that is not enough, he is a partner in Capital Point Partners, a $300-million mezzanine fund, and recently started another bank, Highlands Bancshares, Inc., with five other founders. On weekends, you can find him in meetings with professional hockey players or watching his two sons play hockey on an arena that he owns. When he's not focused on business or education, Makel helps Dallas develop its strategic plan for urban renewal, guiding the placement of parks, highways, and commercial districts.
