Firm Profiles
IN-DEPTH RESEARCH REPORT
on Baker Botts L.L.P.
- - Financial Information
- - Compensation
- - Billing Rates
- - Lateral Partner Moves
- - Pro bono
- - Key Contacts
Baker Botts
- Designation: Houston
- Head Count: 700
- Gross Revenues: $575,500,000
- Revenue Per Lawyer: $820,000
- Profits Per Partner: $1,360,000
- Year Over Year Change: 5
There aren’t many firms that can say they practiced law in Texas when Texas was an independent nation. But Baker Botts traces its roots back to 1840, when Peter Gray—who would later serve on the Supreme Court of Texas—began his practice in the newly founded city of Houston. The firm grew dramatically in the years since, particularly after oil was discovered near Houston in 1901 and dozens of new companies looked to Baker Botts for legal advice.
Baker Botts now brings in more than half–a–billion dollars a year in revenue from the firm’s core practice areas: energy, technology, and life sciences. It also has a highly regarded litigation department and has earned honorable mentions in The American Lawyer’s Litigation Department of the Year competition in both 2008 and 2010.
The firm moved out of Texas early, opening a Washington office in 1973, one that became a D.C. player after absorbing an elite litigation firm, Miller, Cassidy in 2001. Baker opened in New York in 1992 and built a presence with strong relationships with John Malone’s media empire and Master Card. Given the firm’s strong energy practice, it’s not surprising that Baker Botts would have a Middle East presence. It opened an office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2001 and expanded its footprint with a 2005 office opening in Dubai, and a 2009 launch in Abu Dhabi. Asia has also become a focal point, with Baker opening offices in Hong Kong (2005) and Beijing (2007). Here again, energy and technology are core practices.
For a firm with a sense of history there has almost always been a Baker on the premises. The first James Baker, known as Judge, joined in 1872. His son, Captain Baker, followed and came to national prominence in the colorful court battles that followed the death by poisoning of his millionaire client William Rice. (His rescued fortune became the endowment for Rice University, still a Baker Botts client.) Three more Baker generations followed including Jim, the former Secretary of State, and his son Jamie, who now leads the firm’s Washington office.
—Updated as of 1/1/12
Firm Rankings
| Survey | Rank | Year Over Year Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Am Law 100 | 55 | 5 | Gross revenue |
| Am Law 200 | 55 | 5 | Gross revenue |
| NLJ 250 | 54 | 5 | Lawyer head count |
| The A-List | NR | N/A | Overall excellence |
| Pro Bono Scorecard | 96 | 11 | Pro-bono commitment |
| Diversity Scorecard | 72 | 12 | Minority head count |
| Midlevel Associates Survey | NR | N/A | Job satisfaction |
| Summer Associates Survey | NR | N/A | Summer programs |
In the News
D.C. MOVES
: The National Law Journal : May 20, 2013
Summer Associate Survey: 1L Pipeline Power
Jeanne Graham : Texas Lawyer : May 20, 2013
Texas' largest firms are bringing in about the same number of summer associates as they did last year, but a larger proportion of those summer associates are 1Ls.
The Churn: Lateral Moves in The Am Law 200
Diane Jeantet : The Am Law Daily : May 14, 2013
Dickstein Shapiro loses a partner to Jones Day in Washington, D.C.; Bryan Cave poaches five attorneys from Sutherland Asbill & Brennan; and a former Dewey & LeBoeuf partner, most recently with Linklaters, joins KPMG. The Churn is constant. Please send all announcements to thechurn@alm.com.
Surging U.S. IPO Market Yields Gains for Cooley, Hunton
Brian Baxter : The Am Law Daily : May 14, 2013
U.S. companies have already raised $16.8 billion through initial public offerings so far this year and several Am Law 100 firms are reaping the benefits.
Corporate Scorecard
: Texas Lawyer : May 13, 2013
Texas' Top Deals of 2012
Brenda Sapino Jeffreys : Texas Lawyer : May 13, 2013
The top 10 deals in Texas in 2012.
D.C. MOVES
: The National Law Journal : May 13, 2013
Law Firms and Laterals Keep Houston Market Humming
Tom Huddleston Jr. : The Am Law Daily : May 13, 2013
Taken together, Katten Muchin Rosenman's recent move into Houston and a spate of lateral hires shows that a boom in energy-related work continues to attract new Am Law firms to Space City while motivating those already doing business there to bulk up.
Bankruptcy Booms, Energy Expands for Texas Law Firms
Brenda Sapino Jeffreys : Texas Lawyer : May 13, 2013
Big bankruptcies earned five Texas law firms a spot on Texas Lawyer affiliate The American Lawyer's "Corporate Scorecard 2013," while energy work secured a place for six other large Texas law firms on rankings of the nation's top dealmakers in 2012.
The Churn: Lateral Moves in The Am Law 200
Diane Jeantet : The Am Law Daily : May 10, 2013
Alston & Bird adds four partners to its capital markets department on the East Coast; the vice-chair of Greenberg Traurig's pharmaceutical, medical device, and health care litigation practice has left for Jones Day; and Locke Lord expands its Hong Kong office with five new attorneys. The Churn is constant. Please send all announcements to thechurn@alm.com.
- Andrews Kurth
- Arent Fox
- Ashurst
- Bingham McCutchen
- Bracewell & Giuliani
- Chadbourne & Parke
- Covington & Burling
- Crowell & Moring
- Denton Wilde Sapte
- Dewey & LeBoeuf
- Dickstein Shapiro
- DLA Piper
- Freehills
- Goulston & Storrs
- Heller Ehrman
- Herbert Smith
- Holland & Knight
- Howrey
- Husch Blackwell
- Irwin Mitchell
- Jones Day
- K&L Gates
- Katten Muchin Rosenman
- Keker & Van Nest
- Kilpatrick Townsend
- King & Spalding
- Kirkland & Ellis
- Lathrop & Gage
- Locke Lord
- Loeb & Loeb
- Mallesons Stephen Jaques
- Manatt, Phelps & Phillips
- Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy
- Morrison & Foerster
- Munger, Tolles & Olson
- O'Melveny & Myers
- Patton Boggs
- Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
- Perkins Coie
- Porter & Hedges
- Proskauer Rose
- Ropes & Gray
- Shearman & Sterling
- Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton
- Slaughter and May
- Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal
- Squire, Sanders & Dempsey
- Steptoe & Johnson LLP
- Sullivan & Worcester
- Thompson Hine
- Vladeck, Waldman, Elias & Engelhard
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
- White & Case
- Willkie Farr & Gallagher
- Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
