The recruits included lateral partners from
McDermott Will & Emery, Chadbourne &
Parke, and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.
Bracewell has since picked up a significant
practice with the hiring of Evan Flaschen,
the cohead of Bingham McCutchen’s financial restructuring group, and three partners
who followed him from that firm. (The firm
had to open a Hartford office for Flaschen.)
When it comes to Giuliani’s actual workload, the firm at times seems confused about
what its name partner is doing. In September 2006 Bracewell prepared a press release for its role representing Spanish bank
Banco Santander Central Hispano, S.A., in
a $651 million purchase of a majority stake
in Drive Financial Services, a subprime
auto lender. The firm cited Giuliani first in
the list of Bracewell lawyers who worked
on the deal. One lawyer representing Drive
Financial was surprised to hear of Giuliani’s
role. “If he was involved in the transaction,
that’s news to me,” says James Skochdopole
of Dallas’s Bell Nunnally & Martin. “I didn’t
see or hear of him at all.” Oxford called the
press release a “mistake,” clarifying that
Giuliani was not involved in that deal to his
knowledge. Instead, he said, Giuliani played
a role in another project for Banco Santander, helping to ease some regulatory concerns
arising from its acquisition of a stake in U.S.
bank Sovereign Bancorp, Inc.
city’s top lawyer), he was not made available
for an interview. Connolly, 43, took over as
office managing partner in 2006, although he
had never worked at a law firm before. He
notes that when he served as special counsel
to the New York City corporation counsel’s
office, he had management duties over an
800-lawyer office. At Bracewell, he spends
most of his time on management.
The New York office isn’t yet in the black,
but it’s “trending in the right direction,” Oxford said. Last year, he said, it lost $2– 3 million less than expected. The office initially
depressed equity partner profits throughout
the firm; they fell from $620,000 in 2004 to
$595,000 in 2005. Revenue also slipped. Oxford said the firm endured a bad first quarter in 2005, and jokingly attributed part of it
to “water cooler talk” about Giuliani’s pending move to Bracewell that distracted partners and decreased billings. Those numbers
rebounded last year, with profits per equity
partner increasing 16 percent, to $689,000,
and revenue rising 17 percent, to $202 million. Bracewell still trails far behind its bigger Houston competitors. Vinson & Elkins
grossed more than twice as much, $532 million, and reported profits per equity partner
of $1.125 million; Baker Botts collected $503
million in revenue, and had profits per partner of $1.094 milion.
Oxford said he did a “tremendous amount
At White & Case and Anderson, Kill & Olick,
Giuliani’s attempts to juggle law firm partnership with
political campaigns created problems for his fellow partners.
The New York partners all emphasize how
busy that office is. Corporate partner Palmer
does private equity work for MatlinPatterson
Global Advisers LLC and represented it in
its acquisition of bankrupt Varig’s air freight
division. Litigation partner Caruso represents
The Bank of New York Company, Inc., in
litigation over BP shutting down the Prudhoe
Bay, Alaska oil pipeline. Marc Mukasey, who
joined the firm from the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan and heads its white-collar
group, led an independent investigation into
stock option backdating for Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. Connolly represents a
Sutton Place apartment building in an appeal
stemming from a dispute with New York over
structural repairs.
Connolly and Hess—whose services were
part of the $10 million payment from Bracewell to Giuliani Partners—continue to split
their time with that business. Hess, 66, initially served as managing partner of the New
York office, but now does little for Bracewell.
A former New York corporation counsel (the
of due diligence” on Giuliani before inviting
him into the firm. The managing partner acknowledged that Giuliani once had a reputation as a “hard charger,” and years ago “
probably was perceived as being more ambitious.”
But Giuliani is different now, said Oxford.
“Rudy had been through a couple things. He
subsequently learned he had prostate cancer,
and [then came] September 11. He’s never
shown any of the characteristics here that irritated people at the U.S. attorney’s office and
[his former law firm] White & Case. He’s just
a human being who has made mistakes and
learned.”
In the past, Giuliani’s attempt to juggle
a law firm partnership with a political campaign has created problems for his partners.
In 1989 he stepped down after six years as
U.S. attorney for the Southern District of
New York and prepared for his first (and unsuccessful) run for mayor of New York. At
the same time, Giuliani joined White & Case
as a partner. “It didn’t work out,” says James
Hurlock, who was then managing partner of
White & Case and is now retired. Hurlock
calls the hiring a mistake and says that Giuliani didn’t contribute enough, adding, “He
was busy running for public office.” Giuliani
discusses his time at White & Case in
Leadership, in a chapter called “Surround Yourself
with Great People.” He didn’t fit in at the
firm, he writes, because it lacked that “sense
of adventure” he craved.
In 1990 Giuliani joined Anderson Kill &
Olick. Giuliani reminisces fondly about that
time in Leadership, and describes a series of
interesting cases he handled. But according
to Wayne Barrett’s book, Rudy! An Investigative Biography of Rudy Giuliani, Giuliani
spent the bulk of his time at Anderson Kill on
his second run for mayor. In 1992 he billed
177 hours, the lowest of any partner in the
firm, according to Barrett. In early 1993 Giuliani’s name was placed on a list of partners
who should be asked to leave, and he departed soon after. Today all seems forgiven. “We
were honored to have him be our colleague
and wish him the best,” says Jeffrey Glatzer,
the firm’s president and chief executive officer. Asked about the problems Barrett cited,
Glatzer responds, “I don’t have any real comment on that at all. . . . Whatever is in the
public record is there.”
Several lawyers who have known Giuliani for decades treat his tenure at Bracewell as a topic they dare not, or care not, to
broach. John Gross, a partner at Proskauer
Rose, is treasurer for Giuliani’s campaign.
He’s known Giuliani since they were federal
prosecutors together, and they were both
partners at Anderson Kill. Asked if Giuliani
considered coming to Proskauer before
choosing Bracewell, Gross scoffed: “To do
what? He’s got two other businesses!” Gross
sounded uninterested in why his longtime
friend joined the Texas firm: “I have no idea
whatsoever.” When queried on how Bracewell is doing in New York, he responded:
“I know nothing about it whatsoever, other
than they have a nice reception area and a
conference room. I haven’t a clue.” Gibson,
Dunn & Crutcher partner Randy Mastro,
who was deputy mayor under Giuliani, says,
“I’m helping him in any way he needs me.”
But Mastro has not discussed Bracewell with
him: “I have not really talked to him about
his business affairs or law practice.”
As Giuliani continues his run for president, it’s likely that most of the talk will likewise be focused elsewhere. But, politics being
politics, Giuliani is finding that his Bracewell
connection is creating some awkwardness.
Earlier this year, however, Giuliani sounded
completely unconcerned. “There’s not a single negative in it,” he said in February about
his tenure at Bracewell. “If I do not win, I
would like to stay here for the rest of my life.”
Love will find a way.
