Bracewell & Giuliani

Infobox Law Firm
firm_name = Bracewell & Giuliani LLP
firm_
headquarters = Houston, Texas
num_offices = 10
num_attorneys = 400+
practice_areas = Energy, environmental, banking, financial, investment, white collar criminal
key_people = Mark Evans (Managing Partner)
date_founded = 1945
company_type = Limited liability partnership
homepage = http://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, [ [http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2007/25/c8807.html CNW Group | BRACEWELL & GIULIANI LLP | Bracewell & Giuliani LLP Opens Office in Dubai ] ] London, and Almaty in Kazakhstan. The firm's areas of specialization include energy, banking and financial institutions, environmental strategies, white collar criminal defense, special investigations and private investment funds. [ [http://www.bracewellgiuliani.com/index.cfm/fa/lawyers_practice.home/lawyers_practice.cfm Bracewell & Giuliani: Practices ] ] 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. [ [http://www.bracewellgiuliani.com/index.cfm/fa/lawyers_practice.group/attorneys_practice/67f5cd26-12cb-4bac-957b-e7f1743cd6c2/Strategic_Communications.cfm Strategic Communications Practice Group, Bracewell & Giuliani Lawyers ] ]

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. [ [http://www.bracewellgiuliani.com/index.cfm/fa/locations.detail/office/ea87fe1f-c43c-403d-bc87-56f2ed0631b9/Houston.cfm Houston ] ] 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 [cite news | title=White House Says Mukasey Would Skip Giuliani Issues | author=William K. Rashbaum | publisher=The New York Times | date=2007-09-29] ), 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.cite news | url=http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/ny-usrudy055488144dec05,0,6737667.story | title=Rudy no CEO,POLITICS,CANDIDATE,CAIMPAIGN,PRESIDENTlonger firm CEO | author=Tom Brune | publisher=Newsday | date=2007-12-05 | accessdate=2007-12-06]

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. [ [http://www.bracewellgiuliani.com/index.cfm/fa/lawyers_practice.detail/attorneys_practice/c67d8f6c-f836-4212-ad08-2532d5d0fa01/Federal_Government_Relations_and_Advocacy.cfm Federal Government Relations & Advocacy Practice Group, Bracewell & Giuliani Lawyers ] ] The firm worked on behalf of geothermal interests (particularly geothermal heating technology) in the most recent federal energy legislation. [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=] 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." [Amanda Griscom Little, Giuliani-Come-Lately, Grist magazine, April 8, 2005, at http://www.grist.org/news/muck/2005/04/08/little-giuliani/] Bracewell lobbying tactics have variously been noted for bipartisanship [“The new sheriffs in town,” The Hill, April 25, 2007] and stressing substantive expertise over mere access. [Eamon Javers, “Washington Outlook,” Business Week, Feb. 13, 2006, at http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_07/c3971054.htm]

By the late 1990s Bracewell & Patterson was known as the largest recipient of oil-industry lobbying contracts. [ [http://www.publicintegrity.org/oil/report.aspx?aid=345 Politics of Oil - The Center for Public Integrity ] ] 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, [http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Giuliani-Lobbying.html?_r=1&oref=slogin] with the firm receiving $100,000 to $200,000 in billings [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11188273/ Giuliani’s law firm lobbying for Citgo - Rudy Giuliani News - MSNBC.com ] ] after having registered to lobby for Citgo on April 26, 2005, less than a month after Giuliani joined the firm. [ [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/03/14/2007-03-14_giuliani_firm_on_payroll_of_prez_chavez_.html Giuliani firm on payroll of Prez Chavez oil company - News - NY Daily News ] ] Citgo had been the focus of boycott efforts [ [http://citgoboycott.org/ Citgo Boycott Headquarters ] ] 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. [ [http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/rm/2006/68968.htm Venezuela: Terrorism Hub of South America? ] ] Giuliani's presidential campaign said he did no lobbying for Citgo. [ [http://www.kare11.com/news/national/national_article.aspx?storyid=247897 New Header ] ] 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. [ [http://www.commonvoice.com/article.asp?colid=7123 NAFTA Superhighway Has Giuliani As Key Player ] ] The Bracewell & Giuliani website states, "The award to Cintra, approved by the Texas Transportation Commission, is the first privatization of a Texas toll road." [http://www.bracewellgiuliani.com/news/newsroom_detail.asp?NewsID=2017&archive=False]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.bracewellgiuliani.com/ Bracewell & Giuliani web site]
* [http://www.lawperiscope.com/profiles/038.html LawPeriscope Profile]