Baker Botts LLP - Who's Who Legal 70

What is the Who's Who Legal 70?

Baker Botts LLP in Who's Who Legal

	Business Crime Defence
	5

	Mergers & Acquisitions
	3

	Life Sciences
	2

	Aviation
	1

	Franchise
	1

	Commercial Arbitration
	4

	Commercial Litigation
	3

	Corporate Tax
	1

	Patents
	3

	Real Estate
	3

	Trademarks
	1

	Management Labour & Employment
	1

	Environment
	2

	Competition
	1

	Capital Markets
	1

	Corporate Governance
	2

	Project Finance
	4

	Product Liability Defence
	2

	Oil & Gas
	14

One of the United States’ most prestigious law firms, Baker Botts can trace its history back to the 1840s. Today the firm has approximately 750 lawyers in 13 offices around the globe, including Beijing, Moscow and Riyadh, and a recently established presence in Abu Dhabi. The firm sees 41 practitioners selected for this year’s edition, from 17 chapters.

One practice area stands out: Baker Botts LLP has more practitioners in the oil and gas chapter than any other firm, with 10 entries from five countries. Three are based in Houston, while Thomas Eastment features in Washington, DC, where he heads the firm’s energy regulatory section. The firm’s international credentials are demonstrated by the inclusion of Sean Korney in Dubai, two nominees in Russia, Antony Higginson in London and David Renton in Hong Kong, an established name in the region.

The firm’s white-collar criminal defence practice is extremely well thought of. Five partners appear in the corresponding chapter, with William Jeffress particularly impressive. He also appears in the commercial litigation chapter, alongside two further colleagues – Rod Phelan in Dallas is “extremely impressive”, while Irvin Terrell was part of the team that successfully represented Asarco LLC in a multibillion-dollar fraudulent transfer matter against America’s Mining Corporation in the Southern District of Texas. Baker Botts’ arbitration practice is similarly highly rated, with Alejandro Escobar appearing in London and Jay Alexander and Michael Goldberg featuring in our US list.

The firm has a strong transactional practice, and recently represented Liberty Media in the split-off of Liberty Entertainment and subsequent merger of LEI with The DirecTV Group to form DIRECTV. Three US partners are listed in the M&A chapter, and also in the real estate chapter, where Baker Botts is viewed as “a force to be reckoned with” in Texas. Robert Wright in Houston is particularly impressive.

Baker Botts lawyers also appear in several other practice areas. The lateral hire of Ann Hurwitz from DLA Piper gives it a presence in the franchise chapter, and the firm’s environment practice is also highly rated; in 2009 its lawyers worked on the largest environmental bankruptcy settlement in US history.