Baker Botts

Baker Botts L.L.P. is an American law firm with approximately 725 lawyers. Headquartered in One Shell Plaza in Downtown Houston, Texas, the firm has energy and technology related clients. It is the second-oldest law firm west of the Mississippi. History The firm was originally founded as Gray and Botts in 1865, by Peter W. Gray and Walter Browne Botts. In 1872, James Addison Baker 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. Judge Baker's son, Captain Baker, joined the firm as a clerk in 1877, a lawyer in 1881, and became a 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, 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. 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 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. 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.