© 2015 The Texas Lawbook.
By Mark Curriden
(Jan. 19) – Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday that his decision to leave Houston-based Bracewell & Giuliani after a decade-long partnership is “completely amicable” and solely about his need to find a larger platform to grow his cybersecurity and white-collar criminal defense law practice.
Bracewell made a huge splash in the national legal community in 2005 when it hired Giuliani and changed the firm’s name from Bracewell and Patterson to Bracewell & Giuliani in an effort to grow its operations outside of Texas and especially in New York.
Both sides say the partnership was successful, pointing to the fact that Bracewell opened its New York office 10 years ago and grew it to 80 lawyers today. Both Bracewell officials and Giuliani say the decision to part ways has been friendly.
“We achieved the objectives we had of greatly expanding in New York,” Giuliani told The Texas Lawbook. “I am leaving Bracewell under good and completely amicable circumstances. Bracewell is a great firm but it is time for me to move on to other challenges.”
Bracewell officials said they have dropped Giuliani’s name and the firm going forward will simply be called “Bracewell.”
“After a decade in which Rudy helped us build what is now a very successful and thriving New York office, we thank Rudy and wish him our very best,” Bracewell managing partner Mark C. Evans said in a written statement.
Evans was traveling Tuesday and unable to be interviewed. A Bracewell spokesperson said Evans would be available to discuss Giuliani’s move and its impact on the Houston-based law firm Wednesday. The Texas Lawbook will provide details of the interview once it has occurred.
Giuliani said he’s joining Greenberg Traurig, an international law firm four times larger than Bracewell, because its size and reach gives him the global platform he needs to take his cybersecurity and crisis management law practice to the next level.
“Bracewell was restricted in size and doesn’t have nearly the number of lawyers who specialize in this field,” Giuliani said. “Greenberg allows me to do what I was doing at Bracewell but on a much larger scale.”
While Bracewell has a total of 450 lawyers, including about 40 in Dallas and 168 in Houston, Greenberg has 1,900 lawyers in 40 offices globally, including about 120 lawyers in its Houston, Dallas and Austin operations.
Marc Mukasey, another partner in Bracewell’s New York office and a specialist in white-collar criminal law, is joining Giuliani in his move to Greenberg. Lawyers said Tuesday that it is possible that Giuliani and Mukasey would seek to bring other lawyers from Bracewell and other firms in the near future.
Giuliani said his criticism over the weekend of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for questioning the “values” of his fellow New Yorkers played no role in his departure. On Saturday, Giuliani said Cruz, who is running for president, needed to apologize to New Yorkers. Several media outlets have noted that some partners at Bracewell are among Cruz’s biggest financial contributors. The firm’s PAC has given more than $24,000, according to Federal Election Commission data.
“None of that had anything to do with this,” Giuliani said. “I’m sure there is as much political diversity at Greenberg as there is at Bracewell. There were people at Bracewell who supported me when I ran for president in 2008 and there were lawyers at the firm who supported other Republican candidates. I’m sure some of them even supported Democrats.”
Law firm management experts say Giuliani’s tenure at Bracewell seems to have benefited both sides.
“Bracewell received lots of positive attention when Giuliani joined, especially during the first couple years,” says Houston law firm consultant William Cobb. “Bracewell paid him a large compensation and he brought them a lot of attention and certainly grew the firm’s New York office.
“But only the insiders at Bracewell know whether Giuliani and the growth of the New York office have been financially beneficial or whether it has cost more than it has benefited the firm,” he says. “Only Bracewell knows if they got a positive return on investment.”
Cobb and other legal management experts say Bracewell certainly benefited from Giuliani’s high profile presence in media outlets such as CNBC, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
Analysts say the publicity from having such a high profile name can attract clients and potential lateral hires to join the law firm.
In Greenberg’s official written statement, Giuliani is quoted with the following:
“Greenberg Traurig has visionary leaders who clearly understand that the practice of law in today’s world is inextricably intertwined with the worldwide political, social and security issues of the moment. We will work closely together to implement and grow this vision. This comes at a time when my practice and Greenberg Traurig’s particular focus on cybersecurity and related counseling, investigations and litigation is an absolute match. Data privacy and security risks are on the top of the mind of every CEO, General Counsel and corporate board I speak with, and Greenberg Traurig is clearly positioned as a top-tier and highly sophisticated player in this space.”
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