Bracewell LLP

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Bracewell & Giuliani LLP
File:Bracewell&Giuliani.jpeg
HeadquartersHouston, Texas
No. of offices10
No. of attorneys400+
Major practice areasEnergy, environmental, banking, financial, investment, white collar criminal
Key peoplePatrick Oxford (Managing Partner)
Date founded1945
Company typeLimited liability partnership
Websitehttp://www.bracewellgiuliani.com/

Bracewell & Giuliani LLP is an international law firm based in Houston, Texas that began in 1945. The firm has over 400 lawyers, and has United States offices in New York, Washington, D.C., Hartford, San Antonio, Dallas, and Austin, and overseas offices in Dubai,[1] London, and Astana in Kazakhstan. The firm's areas of specialization include energy, banking and financial institutions, defending EPA rules on mercury emissions beneficial to the coal industry [2], white collar criminal defense, special investigations and private investment funds.[3] Also unique to the firm is the strategic communications team who has more than two decades of experience in government relations, media relations and policy-making.[4]

History

The firm was founded on November 1, 1945, when J. S. Bracewell and his two sons, Searcy and Fentress, joined with Judge Bert H. Tunks to practice together in Houston under the name of Bracewell & Tunks. Searcy Bracewell was then elected to the Texas Senate in 1946, representing Harris County, and ultimately becoming the Majority Leader of the Senate. Fentress Bracewell led the development of the firm. Harry W. Patterson joined the firm in 1951, and was made name partner in 1966 as Bracewell & Patterson prospered from the commercial growth of Houston.[5] National expansion began during the 1970s, followed by international expansion later.


On March 31, 2005, former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani joined the firm as a named partner. Subsequently, Bracewell recruited Mark E. Palmer (formerly with the London firm Linklaters), top restructuring lawyer Evan Flaschen, former federal prosecutor Marc L. Mukasey (son of Judge, U.S. Attorney General, and Giuliani friend Michael Mukasey[6]), and former Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for Air and Radiation Jeffrey Holmstead. During Giuliani's presidential campaign for 2008, he remained a participating partner but did not do direct client or operational work.[7]

Many other noteworthy political figures have worked at the firm, including former U.S. Congressmen Jim Chapman, Edwin Bethune, and Henson Moore, as well as former Governor of Montana and Republican National Committee chair Marc Racicot, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza, and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.

Client base

Bracewell & Giuliani has for decades represented clients on government relations matters in Washington, D.C. and in Austin, Texas. The firm's clients have included major energy and natural resource concerns, from conventional energy sources to renewable energy such as solar power and wind power.[8] The firm worked on behalf of geothermal interests (particularly geothermal heating technology) in the most recent federal energy legislation.[9] According to one source, because of its broad-based energy experience, "Bracewell has earned a reputation as one of the most powerful law firms in the energy sector."[10] Bracewell lobbying tactics have variously been noted for bipartisanship[11] and stressing substantive expertise over mere access.[12]

By the late 1990s Bracewell & Patterson was known as the largest recipient of oil-industry lobbying contracts.[13] In March 2007 it was revealed that a lawyer at Bracewell & Giuliani was acting as a lobbyist on behalf of the Houston-based, Venezuelan state-owned petroleum company Citgo before the Texas legislature,[14] with the firm receiving $100,000 to $200,000 in billings[15] after having registered to lobby for Citgo on April 26, 2005, less than a month after Giuliani joined the firm.[16] Citgo had been the focus of boycott efforts[17] due to the Socialist policies of President Hugo Chavez and allegations by the U.S. Government that Venezuela had "not cooperated" in the War on Terror.[18] Giuliani's presidential campaign said he did no lobbying for Citgo.[19] As of May 2007, the firm no longer lobbied on behalf of Citgo.

In 2007, the firm represented a Spanish firm, Cintra Concesiones de Infrastructures de Transporte, S.A., a subsidiary of the Grupo Ferrovial, in its negotiations to operate a toll road as part of the controversial Trans-Texas Corridor.[20] The Bracewell & Giuliani website states, "The award to Cintra, approved by the Texas Transportation Commission, is the first privatization of a Texas toll road."[21]

Notes

  1. ^ CNW Group | BRACEWELL & GIULIANI LLP | Bracewell & Giuliani LLP Opens Office in Dubai
  2. ^ David A. Fahrenthold and Steven Mufso "Court Rejects Emission 'Trades'-- EPA Effort to Limit Mercury Output Is Said to Ignore Law", The Washington Post. Saturday, February 9, 2008, page A03 [1]; A03
  3. ^ Bracewell & Giuliani: Practices
  4. ^ Strategic Communications Practice Group, Bracewell & Giuliani Lawyers
  5. ^ Houston
  6. ^ William K. Rashbaum (2007-09-29). "White House Says Mukasey Would Skip Giuliani Issues". The New York Times. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Tom Brune (2007-12-05). "Rudy no CEO,POLITICS,CANDIDATE,CAIMPAIGN,PRESIDENTlonger firm CEO". Newsday. Retrieved 2007-12-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ Federal Government Relations & Advocacy Practice Group, Bracewell & Giuliani Lawyers
  9. ^ Kate Ackley, “Steamed About Energy,” Roll Call, June 18, 2007, at http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Facts&ContentRecord_id=3fb6338e-802a-23ad-4a38-7fc2eda6c8ca&Region_id=&Issue_id=
  10. ^ Amanda Griscom Little, Giuliani-Come-Lately, Grist magazine, April 8, 2005, at http://www.grist.org/news/muck/2005/04/08/little-giuliani/
  11. ^ “The new sheriffs in town,” The Hill, April 25, 2007
  12. ^ Eamon Javers, “Washington Outlook,” Business Week, Feb. 13, 2006, at http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_07/c3971054.htm
  13. ^ Politics of Oil - The Center for Public Integrity
  14. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Giuliani-Lobbying.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
  15. ^ Giuliani’s law firm lobbying for Citgo - Rudy Giuliani News - MSNBC.com
  16. ^ Giuliani firm on payroll of Prez Chavez oil company - News - NY Daily News
  17. ^ Citgo Boycott Headquarters
  18. ^ Venezuela: Terrorism Hub of South America?
  19. ^ New Header
  20. ^ NAFTA Superhighway Has Giuliani As Key Player
  21. ^ http://www.bracewellgiuliani.com/news/newsroom_detail.asp?NewsID=2017&archive=False

External links

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