Our Founders
Although the roots of our practice extend to the 1960's, Maxwell Locke & Ritter LLP was established in 1991 by Earl Maxwell, Tom Locke & Mark Ritter. The founding partners of our firm believed that we should focus on three things: Our clients, our people and the community. They created a philosophy and mission based on core values that remain the basis of our culture today.
Earl Maxwell:
Earl Maxwell grew up in Houston, Texas and attended the University of Houston where he received his Bachelor of Business in Accounting in 1976.
Earl is the author of Service Prosperity and Sanity – Positioning the Professional Service Firm for the Future. His innovative, non-traditional experience grew out of the process he and the partners of Maxwell Locke & Ritter followed as they established and built a different type of firm.....a firm dedicated to serving people. The firm's philosophy says it all: "We care for our clients and we care for each other."
Earl has spent most of his time in three areas; family, community and business. He has been able to merge these interests by helping to establish a family-friendly workplace and working in the community to support various educational and health and human services programs. He is proudest of his partnership with his wife in raising their two sons.
It had long been part of Earl's plan to eventually leave public accounting and devote his time to the community. True to this vision, he retired from Maxwell Locke & Ritter in 2007 and became the CEO of St. David's Community Health Foundation.
Tom Locke:
Tom Locke has been a trusted financial counselor to entrepreneurs, their companies and their families throughout his career. He graduated from the University of Texas in 1961 and has helped successful Texas business owners pass their businesses on to succeeding generations, growing through mergers and offering securities to the public.
Tom's approach to success has always been focused on gathering complicated financial information and presenting it in a way that is usable and understandable. He has always offered advice based on his experience, assisting his clients in formulating and implementing sound investment policies. Whatever the strategy, the objective remained the same; to create and preserve wealth in a framework that supports a family's values and enhances its opportunities.
Years of parenting and grandparenting viewed from a biblical standpoint have led Tom to support the firm's initiatives of family first, the exploration of spirituality, and the expression of ethics in the workplace. He says, "Maxwell Locke & Ritter's core values, the essence of which are our responsibilities to God and each other, center on what is truly important and enduring."
Mark Ritter:
Mark was a founding partner of Maxwell Locke & Ritter LLP and practiced public accounting with it and predecessor firms in Central Texas for more than 40 years until his passing in 2008. An Austin native, Mark received his Bachelor of Science degree in business from St. Edward's University in 1959 and served his country with the Texas National Guard during the Cuban missile crisis.
He was instrumental in the founding of ML&R Wealth Management LLC, a registered investment advisor, and devoted much of his time to that activity. He was a trusted advisor and friend to his clients and colleagues.
Mark was dedicated to the Austin community, serving on the boards of several local organizations, as well as numerous planning committees and advisory councils. His memberships included The Headliners Club, Rotary Club of Austin, and the Texas Society of CPAs. Informal memberships included his runner's club, his airplane pilots club, and his hunting and fishing circles, as Mark was an avid fisherman and enjoyed flying his airplane.
