Baker Botts L.L.P.

With deep roots in the Lone Star State, Baker Botts has grown to become an international firm with 12 offices across the globe and more than 700 lawyers among its ranks. The firm fields sturdy teams in energy, environmental law, IP, litigation, and project finance.

All in the Family

Baker Botts was Texan before Texas was a state. The firm’s origins date back to 1840, when Peter Gray founded a firm in the land known then as the Republic of Texas. Gray’s first clients were agricultural interests—sugar, cotton, and timber—and the Southern Pacific and Union Railroads. About three decades after starting the firm, Gray handed the reins over to Colonel W.B. Botts and James A. Baker (aka Judge Baker), who nudged Gray’s name off the firm stationery and began working as Baker & Botts. Judge Baker’s son, James A. Baker II (aka Captain Baker), joined the firm shortly thereafter and would grow the firm to become one of the largest in the country in the early 20th century. The next two generations of James Bakers (III—who served as Secretary of State under President George H.W. Bush and his son IV) also made their way up to the partnership rank.  

Tech Titans & Energy 

Baker Botts’ lawyers work across practice areas including corporate, global projects, IP, litigation, and tax. The firm’s clients include Fortune 100 companies, small businesses, government entities, and individuals. Its practices cross myriad industries, such as banking and finance, construction, consumer products, energy and natural resources, insurance, life sciences, real estate, and technology.

Today, more than a third of the firm’s attorneys work in the technology sector—250 lawyers in 12 offices around the world. The firm creates balanced teams of experienced trial lawyers and litigators with technical backgrounds who bring together their expertise to fully understand clients’ technologies and tackle any complex legal issues that may arise. The firm’s technology practice crosses borders and practice areas. The firm’s transactional and tax lawyers lend their counsel to technology clients when it comes to developing business solutions.

Baker Botts is perhaps best known for its energy and natural resources practice. The firm holds a top spot in Vault’s Energy, Oil, & Gas ranking—and for good reason. The firm has handled more than 3,700 such matters across the globe in the past decade and advises on matters relating to oil, natural gas, liquified natural gas, coal, and renewables.

Favorite Attributes

Associates at Baker Botts aren’t left in the dark about what it takes to succeed. The firm’s Associate Attributes Model delineates 10 attributes that are key to success at the firm: building relationships, commitment to excellence, creative problem-solving, confidence, dedication, leadership, oral communication skills, research skills, substantive knowledge, and written communication skills. The model provides associates at different levels with insights into expectations based on these attributes and aims to provide them with the skills they need to be effective lawyers through each stage.

• “Law Firm of the Year – Oil & Gas Law, 2023—U.S. News—Best Law Firms
• “Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality,” 2022—Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index 
• Mansfield “Certified Plus,” 2023—Diversity Lab
• Practice Groups of the Year: Energy & Natural Resources; Environmental, 2021—Law360