Baker Botts LLP - Who's Who Legal 70

What is the Who's Who Legal 70?

Baker Botts LLP in Who's Who Legal

	Oil & Gas
	10

	Trademarks
	1

	Corporate Governance
	1

	Capital Markets
	1

	Oil & Gas
	10

	Environment
	2

	Real Estate
	3

	Product Liability Defence
	2

	Corporate Tax
	1

	Product Liability Defence
	2

	Patents
	1

	Commercial Litigation
	3

	Competition
	1

	Franchise
	1

	Commercial Arbitration
	3

	Aviation
	1

	Life Sciences
	2

	Business Crime Defence
	5

Founding partner Peter Gray was admitted to the bar of the Republic of Texas in 1840, three years after the founding of the city of Houston, and when he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Texas in 1844, his firm changed its to Baker & Botts. The firm has grown and now houses approximately 825 lawyers in 12 cities around the globe, including offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Dubai and Saudi Arabia. Baker Botts' presence in this book extends to 32 listings in five countries, and it appears in 13 of the following chapters.

Oil and gas
Baker Botts LLP has more practitioners in the oil and gas chapter than any other firm, with 10 partners appearing in five countries. As such, the firm receives our award for the world's leading firm in this sector. In recent months, it has been engaged by Marathon Oil in its ongoing efforts to implement its IP and commercial strategy for the development and commercialisation of its proprietary GTF (gas-to-fuels) technology. Lawyers from the firm helped to structure and negotiate agreements related to the demonstration plant, technology licences, engineering and construction services, supply, operations and maintenance, as well as working on memoranda of understanding with national oil companies.

Four oil and gas lawyers are selected from the Houston office, led in the nominations by the partner in charge of the firm's practice group, David Asmus. The "exalted king" of Texas energy law, he is a "global leader" in this field. He was particularly commended for his LNG work. He is joined by the "eminent" George Goolsby, whose experience of working in Eastern Europe much impressed our sources, James DeMent and the "outstanding" Michael Darden. Bruce Kiely and Thomas Eastment appear in Washington, DC, where the latter heads the firm's energy regulatory section. Baker Botts' international credentials are underlined by the presence of one of the leading practitioners in the UAE: Sean Korney in Dubai. Steven Wardlaw is partner in charge of the Moscow office and gives the firm a "valuable presence in the Russian market". David Renton in Hong Kong office is known for his work for the Hong Kong and China Gas Company, while Antony Higginson in London has a "strong energy reputation" and a great deal of experience working in Nigeria.

Baker Botts' expertise in oil and gas law extends to related areas. We list two partners from the Austin office for their environment practices. The "tremendous" Pamela Giblin chairs the firm's environmental department, while the "very good" Sara Marquis Burgin represents municipal and corporate clients in connection with water and wastewater matters. From the same office, Blake Winburne's project finance expertise earns him a listing; he is particularly well known for his downstream energy sector work.

Disputes
The firm has a strong business crime practice in DC. Four partners are selected for their expertise in that area. William Jeffress is "truly great" and is one of the leading professionals in the area. Alongside him, Stan Mortenson is well known for his involvement from 1974 to 2000 in the representation of President Richard Nixon, and subsequently his estate, in all aspects of the government's seizure and disposition of Nixon's White House tapes and papers. Mary Spearing is known for her defence work, investigations and corporate compliance practice, while Randall Turk is also extremely highly rated. The firm earns two further listings in our product liability chapter. Stephen Scheve and Richard Josephson in Houston are said to be among the best in the state.

The commercial arbitration chapter is home to three highly rated Baker Botts lawyers. Michael Goldberg chairs the firm's international arbitration and dispute resolution section and received worldwide recognition for the strength of his practice. Alejandro Escobar joined the firm in early 2008 and represents it in the London section, while Jay Alexander is highly rated in DC. On the litigation side Baker Botts is similarly strong. William Jeffress earns a second nomination in this chapter, and alongside him Irvin Terrell in Houston is a "brilliant operator".

Real Estate, Corporate and Other Areas
Baker Botts' "formidable" real estate practice is one of its core areas. Houston-based Robert Wright is "a star" and was picked out for work on wind farms, pipelines, chemical facilities and power plants. Marley Lott is highly rated, while Fred Dunlop's complex commercial real estate transactional work for major developers, institutional lenders and investors attracted admiring comment.

Rick Goyne heads the finance section of the firm's corporate department and appears in the capital markets chapter, while James Doty and Benjamin Wells are listed in the corporate governance and tax chapters, respectively; both are rated among the leaders in their fields. Rufus Oliver is "one of the leading antitrust experts in Texas", and appears in our competition chapter.

Baker Botts is also well known for its IP work, and lawyers from the firm successfully represented Elan Pharma International in securing $55.2 million in damages from Abraxis Bioscience in June 2008 in the first nanotechnology patent case taken to jury trial. Post-trial motions brought by Abraxis and a possible appeal remain pending. Scott Partridge heads the intellectual property department in Houston and earns the firm a listing in our patents chapter.