webodec3ARCHIVEPreview
Open in TheBrain

Baker Botts

see climate lawsuits

see local regs

frACK

no lnx many

https://www.desmog.com/2014/11/06/bush-family-inner-circle-office-denton-texas-fracking-ban-lawsuits/

Bush Family and Its Inner Circle Play Central Role in Lawsuits Against Denton, Texas Fracking Ban

BySteve Horn onNov 6, 2014

On November 4, Denton, Texas, became the first city in the state to ban the process of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) when 59 percent of voters cast ballots in favor of the initiative. It did so in the heart of theBarnett Shale basin, where George Mitchell — the “father of fracking” — drilled the first sample wells for his company Mitchell Energy.

As promised by the oil and gas industry and by Texas Railroad Commission commissioner David Porter, the vote was met with immediate legal backlash. Both the Texas General Land Office and the Texas Oil and Gas Association (TXOGA) filed lawsuits in Texas courts within roughly 12 hours of the vote taking place, the latest actions in the aggressive months-long campaign by the industry and the Texas state government to fend off the ban.

The Land Office and TXOGA lawsuits, besides making similar legal arguments about state law preempting local law under the Texas Constitution, share something else in common: ties to former President George W. Bush and the Bush family at large.

In the Land Office legal case, though current land commissioner Jerry Patterson signed off on the lawsuit, he will soon depart from office. And George Prescott Bush — son of former Florida Governor and prospective 2016 Republican Party presidential nominee Jeb Bush and nephew of former President George W. Bush — will take his place.

George P. Bush won his land commissioner race in a landslide, gaining 61 percent of the vote. Given the cumbersome and lengthy nature of litigation in the U.S., it appears the Land Office case will have only just begun by the time Bush assumes the office.

The TXOGA legal complaint was filed by a powerful team of attorneys working at the firm Baker Botts, the international law firm named after the familial descendants of James A. Baker III, a partner at the firm.

Baker III served as chief-of-staff under both President Ronald Reagan and President George H.W. Bush, Secretary of State under George H.W. Bush and as a close advisor to President George W. Bush on the U.S. occupation of Iraq. He gave George P. Bush a $10,000 donation for his campaign for his race for land commissioner.

James A. Baker III Campaign Contribution George P. Bush]

The Energy Policy Act of 2005, which exempts the oil and gas industry from the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act for fracking, is seen by critics as the legacy of ashes left behind by the George W. Bush Administration.

Yet almost a decade later, the two lawsuits filed against Denton show the Bush oil and gas legacy clearly lives on and stretches from the state where the fracking industry was born all the way to Iraq and back again.

Jeb and George P. Bush: Fracking Investors

Besides sharing blood as father and son, Jeb Bush and George P. Bush also operate inside the world of fracking finance.

Jeb works at the firm Britton Hill Holdings LLC, while George Prescott works at St. Augustine Capital Partners and served a short-lived stint on the board of directors of the Midland, Texas-based fracking exploration and production company, Arbella Exploration from February through September.

“Its first investments have been tied to the exploitation of shale oil and gas in the U.S.,” explained an article in Bloomberg. “Britton Hill raised more than $40 million for its first fund in May 2013, according to a private placement notice filed with the SEC at the time.”

Britton Hill has investments in a company fracking in the Marcellus Shale basin and another that owns a fleet of gas carriers seeking to export U.S. propane to Asia. Mitch Jones, common resources director for Food and Water Watch, wrote a blog post critical of Jeb Bush and Britton Hill the day the Bloomberg article came out.

“These relationships, where politicians move between Washington and Wall Street, between government and finance and resource exploitation, is another reason why we need to get money out of politics,” wrote Jones. “It’s these sorts of relationships that corrupt our system and provide the permanent political-business elite with their hold on our government.”

The critique promulgated by Jones about Jeb Bush could just as easily apply to his son, who recently said his father is “more than likely” to run for president in 2016.

According to multiple press accounts and an independent DeSmogBlog review of Texas campaign finance data, George P. Bush took hundreds of thousands of dollars from the oil and gas industry in his land commissioner electoral race. He also received the endorsement of the Texas Oil and Gas Association’s political action committee, the plaintiff for the other lawsuit.

“George P. Bush fully appreciates the role a strong domestic energy industry plays in ensuring our state and our nation’s prosperity and security,” Robert L. Looney, president of the Texas Oil and Gas PAC stated in endorsing him. “Mr. Bush is committed to advancing public policy that ensures Texas oil and gas producers can power our state forward and create good-paying jobs.”

Like Britton Hill Holdings, St. Augustine Capital Partners also invests in fracking, according to its website.

“St. Augustine has participated in partnerships with seasoned operators to develop drilling programs in the Marcellus and Permian Basins, in addition to offering financial advisory services for those opportunities,” St. Augustine explains.

“St. Augustine provides business development for dynamic middle-market service companies ranging from liquid storage construction to logistical operations,” the firm further details. “Additionally, St. Augustine has participated as a general partner for numerous oil and gas exploration and production related projects in a variety of geological formations.”

The firm also “has worked closely with” the Texas Railroad Commission, according to its website.

In the months leading up to the Denton vote, the Railroad Commission situated itself as the industry’s go-to spin machine in the attempt to discredit activists fighting for a fracking ban. Railroad commissioner David Porter, who formerly worked as an oil and gas industry accountant, was also one of the first entities out of the block to say an affirmative ban vote in Denton would receive ruthless contestation by the Texas government.

Serving as land commissioner in Texas is often a resume padder before running for governor, an article about George P. Bush published in GreenWire explained.

“[The] Texas land commissioner [is] a powerful post that controls the state’s oil and gas contracts,” the article explains. “Every land commissioner in the past three decades has gone on to run for lieutenant governor or governor.”

Baker Botts: From Texas to Iraq and Back

One of the co-counsel for Baker Botts in its lawsuit against the City of Denton is Evan Young, part of a powerful legal cadre that includes former Texas Supreme Court Justice Thomas Phillips. Phillips testified in front of the Denton City Council in July in opposition to the Denton fracking ban proposal on behalf of TXOGA.

Phillips also concurrently works on the legal defense team for former Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry — 2012 Republican Party presidential nominee and former chair of the powerful Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission — who faces state-level felony charges in Travis County for abuse of power.

According to his Baker Botts biography, Young formerly clerked for the conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and worked as legal counsel in the Office of the Attorney General under Attorneys General Alberto R. Gonzales and Michael B. Mukasey from 2006 through the end of the presidency of George W. Bush.

“While on the Attorney General’s staff, he accepted a detail to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq,” explains his Baker Botts biographical sketch, “where he was the Deputy Rule of Law Coordinator. In that position he worked to assist the Iraqi government in its efforts to strengthen its legal regime.”

Among the legal regimes Baker Botts helped create while Young was still working for the U.S. Department of Justice was one helping oil flow out of the ground in occupied Iraq and into the U.S. As of 2012, the U.S. is one of the world’s biggest importers of Iraqi crude, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA).

Table Credit: U.S. Energy Information Agency

An article published by American Lawyer in 2007 explains that Baker Botts helped cut a controversial legal deal between Hunt Oil and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG).

That deal gave Hunt the right to explore oil in Kurdistan, the first U.S. company given the green light to do so. The Iraqi Constitution that the U.S. helped write says making such a move is illegal.

“Not only was the deal made in a war zone, but Iraq is still working on oil resources legislation,” wrote American Lawyer. “Under the October 2005 Iraqi Constitution, local oil is owned by ‘the Iraqi people.’ “

Ray Hunt, CEO of Hunt Oil Company, gave George P. Bush $25,000 for his campaign according to Texas campaign finance data. And the Baker Botts Amicus Fund gave him $2,000 worth of donations, with Young and Phillips each donating $500 to get George P. Bush elected.

Ray Hunt Hunt Oil Campaign Contribution George P. Bush

Image Credit: Texas Ethics Commission

In late July, Iraq’s Oil Ministry launched a lawsuit against the Kurdish Regional Government in a U.S. District Court in Houston for what it says is a million barrels of illegally stolen oil exported out of Kurdistan — which is still sitting on a tanker called the United Kalyvryta 60 miles off the coast of Texas in Galveston Bay.

The Oil Ministry pointed to the Iraqi Constitution in its lawsuit as the legal precedent.

In March 2014, just months before the Iraqi government brought the lawsuit, Baker Botts published a legal memo on the legal and geopolitical ramifications of Kurdish oil exports.

Constitutional, “Big Government” Double Standards?

Though Baker Botts cited the Texas Constitution in its lawsuit against the City of Denton, the Iraqi Constitution was disposable for the firm and its client Hunt Oil when it came to procuring oil exploration and exportation rights in Kurdistan.

Baker Botts’ counsel also seems to have brushed aside concerns by both the U.S. and Iraqi government that the extra legal maneuvering for oil exploration and production rights in the area would create regional instability, the blowback of which is now visible in the form of the ascendant and lethal Islamic State.

Further, Sharon Wilson, an organizer for Earthworks — an environmental group that campaigned for the fracking ban in Denton — pointed to a quote from George P. Bush back in October. “Enough…big government solutions to our problems,” George P. Bush said at an October event his father Jeb Bush also spoke at.

“Denton residents, not politicians, directly spoke in overwhelming numbers that they don’t want fracking in their city,” Wilson told DeSmogBlog. “Overturning the will of the people by government fiat is the very definition of big government. George P. is going to have to put his money where his mouth is or decide if his mouth is where his money comes from.”

Bush Family and Its Inner Circle Play Central Role in Lawsuits Against Denton, Texas Fracking Ban

Steve Horn is a former Research Fellow and writer for DeSmog and a freelance investigative journalist based in San Diego, CA. He currently works as a climate reporter and producer for The Real News Network.

baker botts (recount?) Patrick Wood FERC

==

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baker_Botts

baker Botts L.L.P. is a major United States-based international law firm of around 725 lawyers, with a long, prominent history and significant political connections, claiming more than half of the Fortune 100 companies among its clients.[1] Headquartered in One Shell Plaza in Downtown Houston, Texas,[2][3] the firm has a major list of energy related clients. It is said to be the second-oldest law firm west of the Mississippi.[4]

Contents

History

The firm traces its history to 1840 in the Republic of Texas, with the beginning of legal practice by founding partner Peter W. Gray. Gray represented the Allen Brothers, founders of the city of Houston. Confederate Colonel Walter Browne Botts (from Fredericksburg, Virginia) joined the firm in 1865, and it became Gray and Botts. In 1872, James Addison Baker (a.k.a. Judge Baker; 1821–1897; from Huntsville, Texas) joined the firm and the name was changed to Gray, Botts & Baker. Gray left the partnership in 1874, to join the Supreme Court of Texas, and the two remaining partners, Walter Browne Botts and Judge Baker, renamed the firm Baker & Botts. Peter Gray also died in 1874. Judge Baker's son, also James Addison Baker (a.k.a. Captain Baker, 1857–1941) joined the firm as a clerk in 1877, a lawyer in 1881, and became partner in 1887, at which time the name became Baker, Botts and Baker.

In 1896, Captain Baker, personal attorney for Texas millionaire William Marsh Rice (Rice had become a client of Peter Gray in the 1850s), drew up a new will for Rice and was the will's executor. In 1900, Rice was poisoned in his bed by his valet, Charles F. Jones, and his New York City lawyer, Albert T. Patrick—a sensational crime that made national headlines. Captain Baker was a key witness and helped investigate the murder after Patrick produced a will that gave him control of five million dollars in 1904. Baker got the will he drew up entered as evidence in the case, and it was subsequently proved that Patrick had forged Rice's signature on the will he submitted. The case was not settled until 1910, and by that time the estate had grown to almost 10 million dollars. When the intent of Rice's will was finally executed, it led to the establishment of the William Marsh Rice Institute for the Advancement of Literature, Art, and Science, which is now called Rice University.[5] Captain Baker was the first chairman of the Rice Board of Trustees. Rice University has maintained ties to Baker Botts since that time.

Jules Henri Tallichet joined the firm in 1909, bringing with him Southern Pacific Railroad, his major client at Sam R. Fisher in Austin, Texas.

Captain Baker's son, James Addison Baker, Jr. (1892–1973), also joined the firm in 1919 and his classmate and friend Henry Malcolm Lovett (son of the first president of Rice University, Edgar Odell Lovett) joined in 1924. Walter H. Walne served as managing partner from 1926 to 1933.

James Addison Baker, III, former Chief of Staff in President Ronald Reagan's first administration and United States Secretary of State (a.k.a. James Baker), joined the firm as a senior partner in 1993, after leaving public service. He maintained two offices in Washington, being also affiliated as a partner at the Carlyle Group (with the title of senior counsel).[6]

In 2000, the firm renamed itself Baker Botts.[7]

Dutch quality newspaper NRC investigated Baker Botts representation of Rosneft, in a Dutch court case dealing with the Russian state's appropriation of Yukos. The two oil giants were embroiled in a bitter feud between Putin and an opponent of his, Khodorkovsy, the controlling shareholder of Yukos. Khodorkovsky was subsequently jailed, and Rosneft picked up the pieces of Yukos' bankruptcy. 

Journalist Joep Dohmen of NRC[8]wrote that Baker Botts helped its client Rosneft forge Armenian court rulings, to shore up Rosneft's claims in Dutch courts. NRC, claiming possession of the actual court papers, found that Baker Botts partner Ryan Bull, and his Moscow associate Izabella Sarkisyan were co-authors of the verdict in Case 1494, which, according to NRC, was handed to Armenian judge Dremeyan on a USB drive. According to NRC, the text included the Armenian coat of arms. The NRC article has been translated into English.[9] The article stated that Rosneft and Baker Botts denied NRC's allegations. The article also stated that Yukos settled out of court, after the Dutch court admitted the proofs of these actions.

Notable partners and employees

References

  1. ^ Baker Botts corporate website Archived 2010-06-16 at the Wayback MachineRetrieved on August 26, 2010.
  2. ^ "Baker Botts hires corporate partner." Austin Business Journal. Wednesday January 21, 2004. Retrieved on August 25, 2010.
  3. ^ "Houston, Texas Archived 2010-08-31 at the Wayback Machine." Baker Botts. Retrieved on August 25, 2010. "One Shell Plaza 910 Louisiana Street | Houston | Texas..."
  4. ^ Williams, Marjorie. "Jim Baker is smooth, shrewd, tough and coolly ambitious. That's why Washington loves him", The Washington Post, January 29, 1989.
  5. ^ *The Life of William Marsh Rice*
  6. ^ Vise, David A.. "Former Secretary of State Baker Joins Carlyle Group", The Washington Post, March 11, 1993.
  7. ^ History - Baker Botts
  8. ^ Rosneft manipuleerde de rechtsgang in Nederland, NRC, 24 November 2016
  9. ^ http://g8fip1kplyr33r3krz5b97d1.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/161124-NRC-Online-EN2.pdf.
  10. ^ White House press release
  11. ^ Bryce, Robert. - "It's a Baker Botts World". - The Nation. - September 23, 2004.
  12. ^ "Vetting Ted Cruz's Presidential Resumé". Houstonia Magazine. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  13. ^ "Retired Supreme Court Justice Joe Greenhill dies in Austin". Austin-American Statesman. February 11, 2011.
  14. ^ "Mike Schofield for State Representative". mikeschofield.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2014.

External links

Categories: 

==

https://www.bakerbotts.com/news/2015/02/baker-botts-client-wins-jury-trial-over-137-bill__

Baker Botts Client Wins Jury Trial Over $1.37 Billion Energy Litigation Claim

02 February 2015

Release

DALLAS, February 2, 2015 -- Baker Botts, a leading international law firm, today announced that its client, OAO Gazprom, the Russian-based oil and gas company, has successfully defended a claim for $1.37 billon USD lodged by Moncrief Oil International.

The Fort Worth, Texas jury trial, which was in its fourth week of testimony presented to 14 jurors from the Fort Worth area, was suddenly dismissed with prejudice by Moncrief on Monday, February 2, 2015.

“This was a major victory for our client Gazprom. The dismissal of this case during trial puts an end to years of litigation by Moncrief Oil International over alleged trade secrets and supposed interference with its business, none of which had merit. It took a long time to get here, but this is the right result,” said Michael Calhoon, a Trial Partner with Baker Botts.

“This was a difficult case from the start, which was tried in Moncrief’s hometown but we worked hard to share our side of the story with the dedicated and hard working women and men of the jury. The jury did a great job understanding the complexities of the global liquified natural gas business,” said Van Beckwith, a Trial Partner with Baker Botts.

This was the third attempt by Moncrief to win damages after earlier attempts in 2007 before a Texas federal court and in 2010 in Germany were both dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

“After years of litigation losses in federal court, Moncrief Oil decided their hometown state court offered the best opportunity for victory. I am proud of our trial team for not backing down and ultimately getting to the truth, which resulted in this dismissal with prejudice,” said Michael Goldberg, a Trial Partner with Baker Botts.

Members of the Baker Botts legal team included: Michael Calhoon (Partner, Washington); Van Beckwith (Partner, Dallas); Ryan Bangert (Partner, Dallas); :{Michael Goldberg:(style="box-sizing:border-box;text-decoration-line:underline"):}: (Partner, Houston); :{Aaron Street:(style="box-sizing:border-box;text-decoration-line:underline"):}: (Partner, Houston); :{Macey R. Stokes:(style="box-sizing:border-box;text-decoration-line:underline"):}: (Partner, Houston); :{Tom Phillips:(style="box-sizing:border-box;text-decoration-line:underline"):}: (Partner, Houston); :{John Lawrence:(style="box-sizing:border-box;text-decoration-line:underline"):}: (Senior Associate, Dallas); :{Eddie LaCour:(style="box-sizing:border-box;text-decoration-line:underline"):}: (Associate, Washington), :{Kristin Cope:(style="box-sizing:border-box;text-decoration-line:underline"):}: (Associate, Dallas); :{Monica Hughes:(style="box-sizing:border-box;text-decoration-line:underline"):}: (Associate, Dallas); :{Melissa Hurter:(style="box-sizing:border-box;text-decoration-line:underline"):}: (Associate. Dallas); :{Chequan Lewis:(style="box-sizing:border-box;text-decoration-line:underline"):}: (Associate, Dallas); :{Mark Little:(style="box-sizing:border-box;text-decoration-line:underline"):}: (Associate, Houston).

==

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/1001**2020**/emails-show-:{us-justice-department-working-closely-oil-industry-oppose-climate-lawsuits:(style="background-color:#ffff66;"):}:

david h

In early 2018, a few months after the cities of Oakland and San Francisco sued several major oil companies over climate change, attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice began a series of email exchanges and meetings with lawyers for the oil companies targeted in the litigation.

At one point, Eric Grant, a deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division, sent an email to Indiana's solicitor general saying that his "boss" had asked him to set up a meeting to go over a plan for the government to intercede in the cases on the companies' behalf. 

The cities were arguing that oil companies should be held liable for catastrophic flooding, sea-level rise and other harmful consequences caused by climate change.The DOJ was preparing an amicus brief in support of the industry, and the Indiana solicitor general was leading the charge by Republican attorneys general from 15 states to also file a court brief supporting the industry.

In another email, an assistant U.S. attorney general referred to the DOJ attorneys and industry lawyers—many of them former DOJ environmental lawyers—as a "team."

The  messages were among 178 pages of emails exchanged by government and industry from February through May 2018 as they worked together to oppose the cities' lawsuits. They were obtained by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) under a federal Freedom of Information Act request and shared with InsideClimate News.

Although the emails do not reveal the substance of discussions that took place during the meetings, they bespeak the unapologetically close relationship between the Trump administration and the oil industry. They also provide a window into the closely coordinated efforts to block the climate lawsuits between industry and the Justice Department's environmental division, which touts itself as "the nation's environmental lawyer, and the largest environmental law firm in the country."

Legal experts say the conversations raise questions about the federal government's objectivity and whether the Department of Justice, in these cases, was acting in the best interest of the country's people.

The "boss" to whom Grant, the deputy assistant attorney general, referred in his email at the time wasJeff Wood, the Trump-appointed acting assistant attorney general leading the Environment and Natural Resources Division. Wood had landed at the DOJ after serving on the Trump-Pence campaign and after an earlier stint as staff environmental counsel to then-Sen. Jeff Sessions, who would become Trump's attorney general.

Wood declined to comment, though he cited a footnote in the order by U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup dismissing the cases that the federal government's amicus brief supporting the oil industry had been submitted "at the Court's invitation." The dismissal is now being appealed.

Neither Grant nor his colleagues involved in the meetings with the industry responded to a request for comment. The Justice Department and industry lawyers also did not respond.

The climate lawsuits that grabbed Wood's attention argue that the companies created a public nuisance—climate change—by producing fossil fuels that become the principal cause of global warming when burned.

"The rapidly rising sea level along the Pacific coast and in San Francisco Bay, moreover, poses an imminent threat of catastrophic storm surge flooding because any storm would be superimposed on a higher sea level," the lawsuit filed by Oakland officials states. "This threat to human safety and to public and private-property is becoming more dire every day as global warming reaches ever more dangerous levels and sea level rise accelerates."

The emails cover a period beginning in February 2018, six months after climate cases were filed, and ending in May, a few weeks after the Justice Department filed the amicus brief on behalf of the five oil giants named in the lawsuits.

At one time or another, six attorneys—one-quarter of the attorneys assigned to division's Law and Policy Section—were brought into the loop with industry.

Justice Department attorneys had multiple conference calls with attorneys for BP and Chevron and hosted at least one in-person meeting at DOJ headquarters in Washington, prompting an attorney for BP to write at one point "thanks again for the helpful discussion last week," according to the emails. The string of electronic notes shows the extensive effort DOJ attorneys made in coordinating various meetings with their oil industry counterparts.

One of the Justice Department lawyers the emails identified as participating in the strategy sessions with the industry has notified the appeals court considering the case that she will be appearing during the time allotted for the industry to present its arguments next month.

Just Raised Eyebrows or Red Flags?

Because the emails do not reflect the substance of the meetings, Justin Levitt, a law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said it is difficult to assess whether ethical lines were crossed.

"If these meetings discussed the logistics of a DOJ amicus filing but not the substance of what the DOJ would file, it may be reason to raise an eyebrow but not a red flag," he said.

It would be unusual and trigger questions if the meetings delved into the issues raised in the lawsuits, said Smith, a former deputy assistant attorney general in DOJ's Civil Rights Division.

"It wouldn't pass the sniff test if the DOJ was trying to address substantive issues," he said. "If the meetings were about the logistics, there's nothing improper."

In its amicus brief, signed by Wood, the government argues the lawsuits violate the constitutional principle of separation of powers between the federal and state governments.

"Balancing the nation's energy needs and economic interests against the risks posed by climate change should be left to the political branches of the federal government in the first instance," Wood wrote in the brief.

"The United States has strong economic and national security interests in promoting the development of fossil fuels, among other energy resources," he wrote.

Wood, who has since left the justice department to become a partner in a Washington D.C. law firm representing clients in federal enforcement actions, also cites a 2017 executive order issued by President Donald Trump saying: "It is in the national interest to promote clean and safe development of our Nation's vast energy resources."

No Similar Conversations with the Cities

Pete Huffman, a staff attorney for NRDC, acknowledged the emails offer just a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes action, but says they are enough to raise serious questions.

"We would expect them to be working in what they think are the best interests of the United States," he said. "We don't think that working with the industry against climate action in most of these places is in the best interests of the United States."

Especially worrisome is the apparent one-sided coordination with the industry, said Huffman, who signed an amicus brief filed by NRDC on behalf of the cities.

"We don't know all the facts from these documents, but it starts to look less like trying to get to the best interests of the United States and more like coordinating in the best interests of the industry," he said.

The conclusion of favoritism cannot be discounted because the emails do not reflect an attempt by DOJ to contact either the cities of Oakland or San Francisco, Huffman said.

"I can tell you for sure that DOJ never reached out to us," said Alex Katz, chief of staff for Oakland City Attorney Barbara J. Parker. The same for the San Francisco city attorney's office, said spokesman John Cote.

A spokesman for the law firm now handling the two cases declined to comment.

Acting in Whose Best Interest?

Pat Parenteau, a professor of environmental law at the Vermont Law School, calls the apparent collaboration "troubling."

While it's within the realm of DOJ to express its view on the legal foundation of any case, the department should remain as objective as possible without the appearance of taking sides, he said. The government, he said, should have no contact with either side and simply express an opinion on the legal issues and allow the court to decide.

"From just the appearance standpoint here, it's troubling to see any coordination," Parenteau said.

That's an especially disconcerting line to cross in the climate cases where the public has been put in jeopardy by the industry's role in climate change, he said.

"The DOJ is supposed to represent the best interest of the people," he said. "In these cases there is an existential threat to the public. So clearly the government is defending against the best interest of the public by cozying up to the industry."

In a March 20 email, for example, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Ennis wrote to Ethan Shenkman, an attorney representing BP, inviting a conversation regarding the California cases.

"Jim Kilbourne, (an assistant U.S. attorney) who is copied here, told us that you would be interested in discussing the nuisance lawsuits filed against BP," Ennis wrote. "Justin Smith and I would be happy to speak with you."

The BP lawyer responds two days later: "Christine - many thanks for reaching out."

A few weeks earlier, an attorney for one of the oil companies sent a note reminding a Justice Department lawyer that a judge in California had set a filing deadline for DOJ's brief supporting the industry.

"Thank you for forwarding this," Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Heminger responded. "Best regards."

The Oakland and San Francisco cases—as well as the dozen other climate lawsuits—remain gridlocked in various legal proceedings from California to New York.

PUBLISHED UNDER:

BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTABILITY

OIL SPILLS/PIPELINES

LITIGATION

CLIMATE CHANG

==

https://www.in.gov/attorneygeneral/2344.htm

thomas M. Fisher has served as an Indiana Deputy Attorney General since February 2001, and was named Indiana's first Solicitor General in July, 2005. In that role he handles high profile litigation for the State, defends state statutes against constitutional attack, advises the Attorney General on a range of legal policy issues, and manages the State’s U.S. Supreme Court docket.

A two-time recipient of the National Association of Attorneys General Best Brief Award for excellence in U.S. Supreme Court brief writing, Fisher has argued four times before the High Court, including this term in Timbs v. Indiana.  His U.S. Supreme Court practice has also included authorship of dozens of cert-stage and merits-stage amicus curiae briefs on a wide range of issues, including jury impeachment, federal preemption, legislative prayer, public Ten Commandments displays, the definition of marriage, abortion regulation, right to trial by jury, habeas corpus, and federal taxpayer standing, among many others.

In addition, Fisher has argued dozens of important and high profile cases before both the Indiana Supreme Court and the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, including successful defenses of Indiana’s choice scholarship program, its popular telephone privacy laws, and its alcohol distribution regulations. Other argued cases have included constitutional defense of abortion regulations, parental rights laws, judicial speech canons, Medicaid statutes, the definition of marriage, state toll road leasing, and public school funding, among many other subjects. In 2018, Fisher was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers.

support pence lost 7th circuit gig?

==

https://www.bakerbotts.com/people/w/wood-jeffrey-h

off bs

drawing from almost two decades of experience in senior government, in-house corporate, and private law firm roles, Jeff Wood helps clients with federal enforcement, compliance, litigation, permitting, and policy challenges primarily in the energy and environmental fields.

Prior to joining Baker Botts, Mr. Wood served as the Acting Assistant Attorney General (AAG) for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). In that capacity, Mr. Wood led ENRD and its more than 600 attorneys and staff representing EPA, Departments of the Interior, Energy, and Defense, and other agencies in civil and criminal enforcement and defensive environmental, energy, and natural resources litigation.

As the top official in ENRD, Mr. Wood managed a complex organization with an annual budget exceeding $200 million and a docket of more than 6,000 cases and matters. E&E News noted that “Wood maintains a strong relationship with ENRD's career staff” (Greenwire, Oct. 31, 2018), and at the end of his service at the Justice Department, the ENRD Assistant Attorney General recognized Mr. Wood for having “served with distinction, honor, and record longevity as the Acting AAG…” (E&E News, Dec. 21, 2018).

At the Justice Department, Mr. Wood oversaw the Division's civil and criminal enforcement programs and was responsible for developing legal strategies and approving briefs in key cases including filings before the Supreme Court and Courts of Appeals in coordination with the Office of Solicitor General. In this role, Mr. Wood held the highest level security clearance and worked closely with top leadership at DOJ, EPA, the Interior Department, USDA, the Energy Department, Transportation Department, FERC, NRC and across the Executive Branch, including the White House.

Previously, Mr. Wood also served as environmental counsel to U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions and the Republican Staff Director of subcommittees of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee. He also served as an energy and environmental policy advisor on the Trump-Pence Presidential Campaign from August to November 2016.

With many years of both private law firm and in-house legal experience, Mr. Wood has handled complex environmental regulatory, policy, and litigation matters for electric utilities, maritime companies, mining companies, real estate developers, financial institutions, industrial companies and manufacturers, business coalitions, associations, small businesses, and individual property owners. Drawing from his experiences in-house, Mr. Wood brings a common-sense, cost-effective, client-focused approach to his work every day.

With a strong national reputation, Mr. Wood is a frequent speaker on environmental law and policy matters in the United States and abroad, with recent speeches and presentations at the London Conference on Wildlife Trafficking, Harvard Law School, Vanderbilt Law School, American University Law School, American Bar Association Environmental Law Conferences, the Texas Environmental SuperConference, Air Force Judge Advocate General School’s Advanced Environmental Law Course, and many other venues.

== 

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/lawyer-for-industry-played-key-role-establishing-texas-1029143.html?printArticle=y

Baker & Botts (Law Firm)

This article may include information from Tobacco Documents Online.

Search the Documents Archives of the Tobacco IndustrySearch the Documents Archives of the Tobacco IndustrySearch the Documents Archives of the Tobacco IndustrySearch the Documents Archives of the Tobacco Industry
Legacy Tobacco Documents Library:

Categories:

1972-The Washington office opened to advise clients on federal regulatory issues. Partners have included an SEC chairman, SEC commissioner, SEC general counsel, General Counsel and Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury and former Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of State James A. Baker, III, who served in senior government positions under three U.S. presidents.

1978-The Austin office formalized the firm’s work with the Texas State Legislature with the opening of an office in 1982. Multiple former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justiceshave joined the firm after retiring from the bench.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-the-koch-brothers-did_1_b_4143928

How the Koch Brothers Orchestrated the Shutdown

10/28/2013 03:11 pm ET Updated Jan 23, 2014

I covered previously the decades-long Koch-operation that got us to where we are (see those earlier posts here, and here, and here, and here). I shall now describe the money-trail from there to Senator Ted Cruz, who directly headed the shutdown-effort in the U.S. Congress.

The two chief contributors to Cruz’s political career donated over a million dollars to it (and no other entity donated as much as $100,000 to it). As one of my earlier posts had noted, opensecrets.org shows that the top sources of contributions to Mr. Cruz’s political career were Club For Growth, and Senate Conservatives Fund, which together donated over a million dollars to it. Open Secrets also explained that the #5 contributor, Goldman Sachs, additionally managed his money and provided his health insurance, and that his wife is a vice president of GS. Moreover, the #17 contributor to Cruz, Berkshire Hathaway (headed by a “Democrat,” Warren Buffett, who prominently mouths against Republican policies), hired Baker Botts as their law firm, and BB was the #8 Cruz donor. So, as this example (BH) shows, Cruz actually had bipartisan support among the aristocracy.

In fact, this bipartisanship is also shown when one probes yet deeper: for example, Berkshire Hathaway’s top ten recipients of political cash during 2011-12 were, in order: Republican Governors Association, (Karl Rove’s) American Crossroads, Democratic Governors Association, Republican State Leadershp Committee, Republican National Committee, Mitt Romney for President, National Republican Congressional Committee, (Rick Perry’s) Make Us Great Again, Democratic National Committee Services Corp., and National Republican Senatorial Committee. Two of those ten recipients are Democratic, but they received only 17% of the total BH political dollars. Republicans received the other 83%. So, even some “Democratic” aristocrats have been heavily funding the Republicans who caused the shutdown and who threatened to violate the 14th Amendment by bringing the U.S. Government into default on its existing debts.

Here now is some background on those two top funders of Cruz’s career:

The Club for Growth, which was the top donor ($700,000+) to Cruz, was founded in 1999 by Steve Moore. As Right Wing Watch has noted, “Before founding the Club for Growth, Moore was the director of fiscal policy at the Cato Institute, and has stayed on as a Senior Fellow.”

Here is how iron the Koch’s control over the Cato Institute was, and is: David Weigel at slate.com bannered on 25 June 2012, “Ed Crane Steps Down to End Koch Brothers’ Attempted Coup at Cato,” and Weigel reported that the Kochs were firing Crane (who by that time was America’s longest-serving think-tank CEO), because he wasn’t doing a good enough job to “provide intellectual ammunition that we can then use at Americans for Prosperity and our allied organizations” in order to oust Barack Obama and the Democrats, and replace them with Republicans. When the Kochs had provided the start-up money for Cato in 1976, they became its controlling owners, and now they were firing its creator, Crane, so as to assist Mitt Romney’s 2012 Republican Presidential campaign. Subsequently, Weigel, who was already working under a false headline that called this firing (of the since-the-founding leader of Cato, their employee Ed Crane) as being no coup but only an “Attempted“ coup, softened Slate’s account even further. He changed it to say that the Kochs had actually lost what they wanted, and that the integrity of their “think tank” was maintained, because the Kochs hadn’t been able to boot also a dissident board-member. This, now the third version of Weigel’s story, got an even softer headline: “Cato at Peace.” The key quotation that had been in the original version, “provide intellectual ammunition that we can then use at Americans for Prosperity and our allied organizations,” wasn’t even included in the final version of Weigel’s news report, but there was, finally, added to it a shocking admission, buried right in the middle of the third version, an admission that should have been at very the top or bottom of each one of its two prior versions: “Disclosure: I worked at Reason magazine, which got Koch funding, for two-and-a-half years.” In other words: it seems that, throughout his reporting on this, Weigel didn’t want to offend his past employers (ultimately the Kochs), who might, after all, someday become, yet again, his employers. But Slate was apparently conflicted about whether to report at all on this blockbuster news story of his - their editors not only gave it deceptive headlines, but they also let slip in its first two versions the reporter’s possibly compromised position reporting on it.

(Disclosure: I won a Mencken Award for the Year’s Best Investigative News Report for an article that I was commissioned to do for Reason in 1981, but I was never employed by Reason.)

As the Right Wing Watch report also noted regarding the leadership of the Club For Growth: “Board Members: CFG President Pat Toomey; Vice President Chuck Pike [who was Toomey’s long-time buddy]; Richard Gilder, formerly Chairman of the Manhattan Institute; and Thomas Rhodes, President of National Review magazine,” and the CFG is “associated with a variety of right-wing organizations, including the Heritage Foundation.” Each one of those entities and persons has been the recipient of much Koch “charitable” cash, even besides the payments for leadership in the CFG.

Club for Growth was also overwhelmingly the largest direct donor to Jim DeMint’s political career during 2007-2012 ($157,067 as compared to the #2 direct donor, Scana Corp., which is a S.C. energy company, $49,475); Koch Industries itself was #6 (at $22,000); Club for Growth was also the largest direct donor throughout DeMint’s entire political career, but the #2, again Scana Corp., gave two-thirds as much, far closer; Koch was #12. In other words: the longer that DeMint was in politics, the more impressed that the Club for Growth and the Kochs became with his performance. Perhaps that’s why, in 2012, they handed him the leadership of Heritage Foundation, and a huge hike in his pay, to over a million dollars a year.

The #2 Cruz donor, the Senate Conservatives Fund, had been set up by the then-Senator Jim DeMint in 2008, and it funded the far-right Republican Pat Toomey’s win of a Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat from the merely conservative Republican incumbent U.S. Senator Arlen Spector, and it funded the far-right Republican Marco Rubio’s win of a Florida U.S. Senate seat against the merely conservative former Florida Republican Governor Charlie Crist. Then, DeMint’s CFG funded Ted Cruz’s replacing Republican Kay Bailey Hutchinson as a Texas U.S. Senator. DeMint was able to do all of that because he had enjoyed massive funding from the Kochs and their friends (including Toomey). As Polluter Watch headlined on 6 December 2012, “Jim DeMint and Heritage Foundation Awash in Koch Brother Money.” However, DeMint’s backing by the Kochs was actually far greater than merely the Kochs’ money; the Kochs were this nation’s biggest “bundlers”: DeMint was backed also by the Kochs’ hundreds of billionaire and centi-millionaire friends, whom the Kochs had nurtured during decades, in their joint long campaign to take over the U.S. Government and to turn American democracy into a fascist government, controlled by a mega-corporate-elite behind closed doors, supported in this effort by religious fundamentalists such as Jim DeMint himself, who was a member of “the C-Street Family.” The Kochs’ father, Fred Koch, had been a fundamentalist Christian co-founder of the John Birch Society, whose spin-off in 1981, which was/is the highly secretive fundamentalist Christian theocratic-aristocratic Council for National Policy, awarded his son Charles Koch their “Free Enterprise Award” in 1999. The great investigative journalist Lee Fang managed to obtain Koch’s acceptance-speech transcript, in which Charles condemned the French Revolution (which beheaded the aristocrats), and said that “the highest form of charity” is “dispensing with charity all together” and replacing it “by enabling your fellow humans to ... earn their own living.” In other words: he was saying that the public depend upon the rich in order to be able to survive. He opposed not only obligatory social-welfare donations via taxes, but even voluntary “charity,” and favored instead just “freedom” - unlimited greed. The underlying view had been expressed by the Scrooge character in Dickens’s famous A Christmas Carol. Charles Koch heaped praise upon four major organizations that his foundations financed: Heritage Foundation, Citizens for a Sound Economy, Federalist Society, and George Mason University. He also referred to his pride at receiving “the Richard De Vos Award. Because, to me, Rich exemplifies, as much as anybody, both what I call principled entrepreneurship and dedication to the advancement of a free and civil society.” However, for the general public, he has refered to it instead as the “Free Enterprise Award,” which was its other name. His address ended, “I’m dedicated to living by and advancing these principles and values. In that, I echo Martin Luther.”

...

==

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/581798/Baker-Botts-Annual-Environmental-Seminar-Houston-Texas-February  Horinko

Baker Botts Hosts 16th Annual Environmental Seminar

On February 5, 2004, Baker Botts L.L.P. hosted more than 200 participants at its annual environmental seminar. This event provides Baker Botts’ clients with an insightful perspective into the latest developments in the environmental arena.

Featured speakers, including senior Region VI and EPA headquarter officials, discussed the status of New Source Review Reform and other current EPA air initiatives, and air enforcement efforts. Presentations by Baker Botts lawyers and industry representatives also covered a range of timely and important environmental, health, and safety issues, including TCEQ water inspection initiatives, climate change efforts in the United States, Texas ozone control strategies, and recent cases involving Clean Water Act jurisdiction.

‘We are so pleased to offer this opportunity to our clients. The fact that there are so many major environmental issues made the seminar particularly timely and informative,’ said Pam Giblin, Chair of the firm’s Environmental Department.

The Baker Botts environmental practice is one of the largest and most diverse in the United States. The firm’s lawyers represent clients in regulatory counseling, permitting, litigation, legislative matters, administrative rulemaking, criminal investigations, corporate crises, civil enforcement, contaminated site remediation and business transactions.

Baker Botts L.L.P., founded in 1840, is a leading international law firm with offices in Austin,Baku, Dallas, Houston, London, Moscow, New York, Riyadh and Washington. With more than 650 lawyers, Baker Botts provides a full spectrum of legal services to regional, national and international clients. For more information, please visit www.bakerbotts.com.

USTIN, Texas, June 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Molly Cagle, who represents clients on a wide array of major environmental issues before government agencies and in federal and state courts, has joined Baker Botts L.L.P. as a partner in the firm's Austin office.

Cagle is one of the country's leading environmental lawyers, particularly with respect to water issues. She has been lead counsel in high-profile lawsuits ranging from power plant discharges and water rights disputes between states to water rights permitting and key legislation in Texas affecting water laws.

During the past decade, Cagle's work on behalf of clients earned her recognition from Chambers USA as one of "America's Leading Lawyers for Business" in environmental law. Chambers editors described her as a "renaissance lawyer, a true litigator" whose clients praise her "effectiveness" and "top-notch negotiation skills."

In the enforcement area, Cagle litigates and negotiates settlements for clients under the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and their state analogs, as well as the Superfund statute. She counsels clients on audit issues, under both the state audit law and federal policy.

"Adding Molly's renowned litigation and negotiation skills continues our commitment to providing world-class environmental legal services to our clients throughout the firm," said Baker Botts Managing Partner Andrew M. Baker.

Cagle's practice includes permitting work before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the  Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (and its predecessor agencies), the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, the Railroad Commission of Texas and corresponding agencies in other states. With regard to air and solid waste, she handles a variety of contested cases, including air and hazardous waste permitting for boilers, incinerators, furnaces and underground injection control wells. She represents clients in State Implementation Plan issues as well.

On the state and federal level, Cagle assists clients in rulemaking petitions and in preparing comments on agency rules. She assists clients in challenging environmental legislation and rules.

"Molly's unparalleled experience in resolving disputes over natural resources is a significant addition to our environmental practice," said Steve Leifer, Chair of the Environmental Department at Baker Botts. "Molly's proven track record of helping clients meet their most significant environmental challenges will enhance Baker Botts' environmental profile both in Texas and throughout the country."

Prior to joining Baker Botts, Cagle was a partner at Vinson & Elkins. She earned her law degree (with honors) from The University of Texas School of Law. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree (magna cum laude) from Texas Tech University.

About Baker Botts

Baker Botts is an international law firm with over 725 lawyers and a network of 13 offices around the globe. Based on our experience and knowledge of our clients' industries, we are recognized as a leading firm in the energy, technology and life sciences sectors. Throughout our 172-year history, we have provided creative and effective legal solutions for our clients while demonstrating an unrelenting commitment to excellence. For more information, please visit http://www.bakerbotts.com

Steve Leifer is the firmwide chair of Baker Botts’ Environmental Department.  He handles a broad range of environmentally-related litigation, including toxic tort and products liability cases, insurance recovery actions, civil and criminal governmental enforcement proceedings and environmental bankruptcy claims. He is national counsel to petroleum and chemical companies with respect to product liability cases across the country. He handles a number of personal injury and property damage claims, including multiple class actions, arising out of alleged exposure to hazardous substances and litigates CERCLA claims against both the government and private parties.

Mr. Leifer provides counsel to a number of leading chemical, oil and gas, utility and manufacturing companies on remediation and compliance issues arising under Superfund, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act (EPCRA), the Clean Water Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, pesticides and toxic substances legislation, DOT requirements and similar programs, including reporting obligations, cleanup standards, consent decree and consent order negotiations, permitting and all areas of environmental management and compliance.

Mr. Leifer also assists companies in managing environmental liabilities associated with acquisitions, mergers, loans and other business transactions, including conducting pre-acquisition due diligence reviews, drafting indemnity agreements, procuring environmental insurance and resolving disputes.

Before entering private practice, Mr. Leifer worked for eleven years for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In his most recent position at EPA, he acted as director of the Hazardous Waste Enforcement Division,where he supervised policy development and litigation support activities for the CERCLA, RCRA and EPCRA programs.

partner:

THOMAS R. PHILLIPS

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas

Trustee, Center for American and International Law

Thomas R. Phillips

Partner at Baker Botts

Austin, TexasLaw Practice

Current

Baker Botts L.L.P.

Previous

South Texas College of Law, Southern Methodist University Dedman School of law, Supreme Court of Texas

Education

Harvard Law School

500+

connections

View Thomas R.’s full profile. It's free!

Your colleagues, classmates, and 400 million other professionals are on LinkedIn.

View Thomas R.’s Full Profile

Summary

Thomas R. Phillips is a partner in the Austin office of Baker Botts L.L.P., concentrating in general litigation, including appellate, trial strategy, and alternate dispute resolution. He joined the Firm after serving as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas from 1988-2004 and Judge of the 280th District Court of Harris County from 1981-88.

Since rejoining Baker Botts, Phillips has argued numerous appeals in the Supreme Court of Texas and in the courts of appeals of Texas, involving, among other issues, fraud, breach of contract, administrative law, public nuisance, statutory interpretation, health care delivery, public pension systems, electricity deregulation, pharmaceutical liability, professional liability, state taxation, eminent domain, and federal and state constitutional appeals.

He currently serves on the board of the Texas State Historical Association and was a member of the Texas Historical Commission from 2005-12.

A native of Dallas, Phillips earned a B.A. from Baylor University in 1971 and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1974. He has been awarded honorary doctoral degrees from St. Edward’s University and Texas Tech University.

.

Link to professional bio: http://www.bakerbotts.com/thomas-r-phillips/

Experience

Partner

Baker Botts L.L.P.

September 2005 – Present (10 years 11 months)

Spurgeon E. Bell Distrnguished Visitng Professor

South Texas College of Law

August 2004 – May 2005 (10 months)

Visting Professor

Southern Methodist University Dedman School of law

August 2004 – December 2004 (5 months)

Chief Justice

Supreme Court of Texas

January 1988 – September 2004 (16 years 9 months)

District Judge

280th District Court of Harris County

July 1981 – January 1988 (6 years 7 months)

Associate

Baker & Botts

September 1975 – June 1981 (5 years 10 months)

Organizations

Conference of Chief Justices

President, 1997-98

Starting January 1988

American Law Institute

Advisor, Principles of Election Law, 2011-present; Advisor, Federal Judicial Code Project, 1996-2001

Starting 1990

Litigation Counsel of America

Fellow

Starting 2014

The Center for American and International Law

Trustee

Starting 1992

Dwight D. Opperman Institute of Judicial Administration, NYU Law School

Director

Starting 2006

South Texas College of Law

Director

2006 – 2011

American Judicature Society

Director, 1989-95, 1999-2005

Starting 1987

Texas Judicial Council

Chair, 1997-2004

1988 – 2004

American Bar Association

Commission on the 21st Century Judiciary, 2002-03; Task Force on Lawyers' Political Contributions, 1997-98

Starting 1975

State Bar of Texas

Chair, Pattern Jury Charge Committee Volume IV, 1985-88; Vice Chair, Committee on Administration of Justice, 1986-88; Member, Committee on Rules of Evidence, 1983-88

Texas Historical Commission

Commissioner

2005 – 2012

Texas State Historical Association

Director

Starting 2014

Baylor University Presidential Search Advisory Committee

Member

2009 – 2010

Texas Bipartisan Federal Judicial Evaluation Committee

Member

Starting 2013

NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions

Public Member

2006 – 2008

Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform

Member

2005 – 2005

Mitt Romney Campaign Justice Advisory Committee

Member

2011 – 2012

Bastrop County Historical Society

Director

2004 – 2008

The Philosophical Society of Texas

Member

Starting 1990

Publications

The Merits of Merit Selection

32 Harv. J. L. P. P. 67

2009

Authors:

Thomas R. Phillips

Free Speech for Judges and Fair Appeals for Litigants: Judicial Recusal in a Post-White World

55 Drake L. Rev. 691

2007

Authors:

Thomas R. Phillips

State Supreme Courts: Local Courts in a Global World

38 Texas Int'l L. J. 557

2003

Authors:

Thomas R. Phillips

Electoral Accountability and Judicial Independence

64 Ohio St. L. J. 137

2003

Authors:

Thomas R. Phillips

The Constitutional Right to a Remedy

78 N. Y. U. L. Rev. 1309

2003

Authors:

Thomas R. Phillips