Baker Botts

Infobox Law Firm
firm_name = Baker Botts
firm_
headquarters = Houston

foundation = 1840
num_offices = 12
num_attorneys = about 800
practice_areas = General practice
revenue = NA
date_founded = 1840
company_type = Limited Liability Partnership
firm_slogan = Deeper understanding. Better solutions.
homepage = [http://www.bakerbotts.com/ www.bakerbotts.com]

Baker Botts LLP is a major United States-based international law firm of around 800 attorneys, with a long, prominent history, significant political connections, and a long list of corporate clients. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the firm has a major list of energy related clients.

History

The firm traces its history to 1840 in the Republic of Texas, with the beginning of legal practice by founding partner Peter W. Gray. Gray represented the Allen Brothers, founder of the city of Houston. Confederate Colonel Walter Browne Botts (from Fredericksburg, Virginia) joined the firm in 1865, and it became Gray and Botts. In 1872, James Addison Baker (aka Judge Baker; 1821–1897; from Huntsville, Texas) joined the firm and the name was changed to Gray, Botts & Baker. Gray left the partnership in 1874, to join the Supreme Court of Texas, and the two remaining partners, Walter Browne Botts and James A. Baker, renamed the firm Baker & Botts. Peter Gray also died in 1874. Judge Baker's son, also James Addison Baker (aka Captain Baker and James A. Baker, Sr.; 1857-1941) joined the firm as a clerk in 1877, a lawyer in 1881, and became partner in 1887, at which time the name became Baker, Botts and Baker.

In 1896, Captain Baker, personal attorney for Texas millionaire William Marsh Rice (Rice became a client of Peter Gray in the 1850s), drew up a new will for Rice and was the will's executor. In 1900, Rice was poisoned in his bed by his valet, Charles F. Jones, and his New York City lawyer, Albert T. Patrick, a sensational crime that made national headlines. Captain Baker was a key witness and helped investigate the murder after Patrick produced a will that gave him control of the 5 million dollars in 1904. Baker got the will he drew up entered as evidence in the case, and it was subsequently proved that Patrick had forged Rice's signature on the will he submitted. The case was not settled until 1910, and by that time the estate had grown to almost 10 million dollars, the intent of Rice's will was finally executed, the establishment of the William Marsh Rice Institute for the Advancement of Literature, Art, and Science, which is now called Rice University. [ [http://www.rice.edu/fondren/woodson/founder.html "The Life of William Marsh Rice"] ] Captain Baker was the first chairman of the Rice Board of Trustees. Rice University has maintained ties to Baker Botts since that time.

Jules Henri Tallichet joins the firm in 1909, bringing with him Southern Pacific Railroad, his major client at Sam R. Fisher in Austin, Texas.

Captain Baker's son, James Addison Baker, Jr. (1892-1973), would also join the firm in 1919 with his classmate and friend Henry Malcolm Lovett (son of the first president of Rice University, Edgar Odell Lovett) joining in 1924. Walter Waine served as managing parter from 1926 to 1933.

After leaving public service, former Chief of Staff in President Ronald Reagan's first administration and United States Secretary of State James Addison Baker, III (aka James Baker) joined the firm as a senior partner in 1993.

In 2000, the firm renamed itself Baker Botts. [ [http://www.bakerbotts.com/about/history/ History] - Baker Botts]

Notable partners and employees

* Claude Allen, associate employee 1991-1995 [ [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/01/20050105-6.html White House press release] ]
* James A. Baker, Sr., joined 1881, partner 1887, grandfather of James Addison Baker, III
* James Addison Baker, III (b.1930), senior partner as of|1993
* Richard Breeden, Activist Hedge Fund Manager and former SEC Chairman
* George W. Bush, former mail room employee [Bryce, Robert. - [http://www.thenation.com/doc/20041011/bryce/single "It's a Baker Botts World"] . - "The Nation". - September 23, 2004.]
* Peter W. Gray, founder, partner, 1840-1874
* Joe R. Greenhill, of counsel
* Robert Jordan, partner
* Robert Keeton, former employee
* Thomas R. Phillips, partner

Notable clients

:Partial list of clients: [ [http://www.bakerbotts.com/about/history/timeline Timeline] | [http://www.bakerbotts.com/about/history/ History] | - Baker Botts]
* Exxon Mobil
* BP (formerly British Petroleum)
* Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia
* Conoco (ConocoPhillips)
* Tele-Communications, Inc.
* American Airlines
* MasterCard International
* Houston Lighting & Power
* Allen Brothers (founded by Augustus Chapman Allen and the late John Kirby Allen), founders of the city of Houston
* William Marsh Rice, cotton baron, "richest man in Texas" in the 1850s
* Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (MKT, "the KATY")
* Missouri Pacific Railroad
* Southern Pacific Railroad
* E. H. Harriman
* Union Pacific Railroad
* Brown Brothers Harriman
* Rice University
* Sinclair Oil
* Long-Bell Lumber (International Paper)
* United Gas (Reliant Energy)
* Schlumberger
* Tenneco
* Zapata Off-Shore
* Gerald D. Hines
* Pennzoil
* Roy Huffington
* Mesa Petroleum
* EDS (Electronic Data Systems)
* DSC Communications (now Alcatel subsidiary Alcatel USA), "DSC v. Next Level Communications"
* Alcatel, "Alcatel v. Samsung"
* Marathon Oil
* Occidental Petroleum
* Liberty Media
* eSpeed (Cantor Fitzgerald), "eSpeed v. Chicago Board of Trade and Chicago Mercantile Exchange"
* ChevronTexaco
* Halliburton [ [http://www.bakerbotts.com/infocenter/newsroom/Detail.aspx?id=b9898189-cf57-428b-8ad8-4bec239d1304 Baker Botts website] ]
* Lyondell Chemical

References

External links

* [http://www.bakerbotts.com/ Official Firm Website]
* [http://www.lawperiscope.com/profiles/027.html LawPeriscope Profile]