Baker & Botts in the Development of Modern Houston

Baker & Botts in the Development of Modern Houston PDF Author: Kenneth J. Lipartito
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 1477301208
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 276

Get Book Here

Book Description
As counsel for Pennzoil's successful effort to recover billions of dollars in damages from Texaco over the acquisition of Getty Oil Company, the Baker & Botts law firm of Houston, Texas, achieved wide public recognition in the 1980s. But among its peers in the legal and corporate worlds, Baker & Botts has for more than a century held a preeminent position, handling the legal affairs of such blue-chip clients as the Southern Pacific Railroad, Houston Lighting & Power Company, Rice University, Texas Commerce Bank, and Tenneco. In this study, Kenneth J. Lipartito and Joseph A. Pratt chronicle the history of Baker & Botts, placing particular emphasis on the firm's role in Houston's economic development. Founded in 1840, Baker & Botts literally grew up with Houston. The authors chart its evolution from a nineteenth-century regional firm that represented eastern-based corporations moving into Texas to a twentieth-century national firm with clients throughout the world. They honestly discuss the criticisms that Baker & Botts has faced as an advocate of big business. But they also identify the important impact that corporate law firms of this type have on business reorganization and government regulation. As the authors demonstrate in this case study, law firms throughout the twentieth century have helped to shape public policy in these critical areas. Always prominent in the community, and with prominent connections (former Secretary of State James A. Baker III is the great-grandson of the original Baker), the Baker & Botts law firm belongs in any history of the development of Houston and the Southwest.

Baker & Botts in the Development of Modern Houston

Baker & Botts in the Development of Modern Houston PDF Author: Kenneth J. Lipartito
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 1477301208
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 276

Get Book Here

Book Description
As counsel for Pennzoil's successful effort to recover billions of dollars in damages from Texaco over the acquisition of Getty Oil Company, the Baker & Botts law firm of Houston, Texas, achieved wide public recognition in the 1980s. But among its peers in the legal and corporate worlds, Baker & Botts has for more than a century held a preeminent position, handling the legal affairs of such blue-chip clients as the Southern Pacific Railroad, Houston Lighting & Power Company, Rice University, Texas Commerce Bank, and Tenneco. In this study, Kenneth J. Lipartito and Joseph A. Pratt chronicle the history of Baker & Botts, placing particular emphasis on the firm's role in Houston's economic development. Founded in 1840, Baker & Botts literally grew up with Houston. The authors chart its evolution from a nineteenth-century regional firm that represented eastern-based corporations moving into Texas to a twentieth-century national firm with clients throughout the world. They honestly discuss the criticisms that Baker & Botts has faced as an advocate of big business. But they also identify the important impact that corporate law firms of this type have on business reorganization and government regulation. As the authors demonstrate in this case study, law firms throughout the twentieth century have helped to shape public policy in these critical areas. Always prominent in the community, and with prominent connections (former Secretary of State James A. Baker III is the great-grandson of the original Baker), the Baker & Botts law firm belongs in any history of the development of Houston and the Southwest.

Baker and Botts in the Development of Modern Houston

Baker and Botts in the Development of Modern Houston PDF Author: Kenneth J. Lipartito
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781477301197
Category : Houston (Tex.)
Languages : en
Pages : 276

Get Book Here

Book Description


The Country Houses of John F. Staub

The Country Houses of John F. Staub PDF Author: Stephen Fox
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 9781585445950
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 420

Get Book Here

Book Description
"This ambitious study of Staub's work by architectural historian Stephen Fox goes beyond a description of Staub's houses. Fox analyzes the roles of space, structure, and decoration in creating, defining, and maintaining social class structures and expectations and shows how Staub was able to incorporate these elements and understandings into the elegant buildings he designed for his clients. In the process, he contributes greatly to a fuller understanding of Houston's emergence as a premier American city."--BOOK JACKET.

Eckhardt

Eckhardt PDF Author: Gary Keith
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292716915
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 437

Get Book Here

Book Description
Renowned for his "brilliant legislative mind" and political oratory—as well as for bicycling to Congress in a rumpled white linen suit and bow tie—U.S. Congressman Bob Eckhardt was a force to reckon with in Texas and national politics from the 1940s until 1980. A liberal Democrat who successfully championed progressive causes, from workers' rights to consumer protection to environmental preservation and energy conservation, Eckhardt won the respect of opponents as well as allies. Columnist Jack Anderson praised him as one of the most effective members of Congress, where Eckhardt was a national leader and mentor to younger congressmen such as Al Gore. In this biography of Robert Christian Eckhardt (1913-2001), Gary A. Keith tells the story of Eckhardt's colorful life and career within the context of the changing political landscape of Texas and the rise of the New Right and the two-party state. He begins with Eckhardt's German-American family heritage and then traces his progression from labor lawyer, political organizer, and cofounder of the progressive Texas Observer magazine to Texas state legislator and U.S. congressman. Keith describes many of Eckhardt's legislative battles and victories, including the passage of the Open Beaches Act and the creation of the Big Thicket National Preserve, the struggle to limit presidential war-making ability through the War Powers Act, and the hard fight to shape President Carter's energy policy, as well as Eckhardt's work in Texas to tax the oil and gas industry. The only thorough recounting of the life of a memorable, important, and flamboyant man, Eckhardt also recalls the last great era of progressive politics in the twentieth century and the key players who strove to make Texas and the United States a more just, inclusive society.

The Death of Old Man Rice

The Death of Old Man Rice PDF Author: Martin L Friedland
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 9780814726594
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 450

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Story of One of the Most Remarkable Trials in All History! Sensational trials--the Menendez brothers, the Rodney King case, the Preppie Murder--are not unique to the age of television. The year 1900 saw one of the most dramatic criminal trials in American history, described by one newspaper at the time as America's most remarkable murder case. When William Marsh Rice, the founder of Rice University, was found dead in the New York City quarters he shared with his only servant, suspicion immediately fell on Albert Patrick, a young lawyer. Rice, whose fortune was pledged to Rice Institute (later Rice University), had, it seemed, been killed by chloroform poisoning and his will forged to give Patrick his vast estate. Patrick was immediately arrested and, in a spectacular trial, tried for first-degree murder, a crime then punishable by execution. In this combination murder mystery and murder history, Martin Friedland recounts the events leading up to the trial and the case as it played itself out in court. Skillfully guiding the reader through the trial and its outcome, Friedland sheds new light on the events, casting doubt on what, at first glance, seems an ironclad case. Provocatively illustrated with over 60 photographs that capture the circumstances of the trial and the mood of New York City at the turn of the century, The Death of Old Man Rice is not only a gripping tale of murder and intrigue, but a timely window onto many aspects of criminal justice in America. Touching on issues of great contemporary relevance-- such as the influence of the popular press; the purchase of expert witnesses; the problems of multiple appeals; the inadequacy of penal institutions; and the advantages of wealth--Friedland combines scholarship with suspense in his trademark who done it style. A murder mystery, a historical study, and a fascinating window into the world of forensic science, The Death of Old Man Rice is that rare book that can engage any reader.

Lawyering for the Railroad

Lawyering for the Railroad PDF Author: William G. Thomas III
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 9780807125045
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 356

Get Book Here

Book Description
Lawyering for the Railroad provides the first full account of railroad monopoly power, tracing its sources and effects in the southern political economy. Issues touching on railroad development were major components of politics in the days of both Populism and Progressivism, and railroad attorneys -- often in their role as lobbyists -- were always in the middle of the action. They distributed free passes to legislators, retained the best counsel for their clients, laid out the legal agreements to form monopolies, and instituted practices to ensure quick and favorable settlements for the railroads. In this intriguing work, William G. Thomas introduces the southern attorneys who represented railroads between 1880 and 1916, closely examining their role in the political economy of the South during the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era, a period in which the region experienced sharp change, explosive growth, and heated political contests. Thomas tells his fascinating story with legal department records from some of the largest interstate railroad companies in the South. With the help of these records, he demonstrates how the railroads tried to use the law and the legal process to mold the southern political economy to their ends and what kind of opposition they faced. Standing at the crossroads of business, law, and politics, Lawyering for the Railroad gives context, depth, and specificity to what have been cursory glimpses into the shady world of corporate power in the Gilded Age. From small-town lawyers to big-city firms, the story of the railroad attorneys brings into focus the many ways the interstate railroad transformed the South.

The Architecture of Birdsall P. Briscoe

The Architecture of Birdsall P. Briscoe PDF Author: Stephen Fox
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 1648430538
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 606

Get Book Here

Book Description
Birdsall P. Briscoe (1876–1971) practiced architecture from 1912 to 1956, the span of years during which Houston was transformed from an ambitious town on Buffalo Bayou into an international city, its economy powered by cotton, trade, and oil. The country houses Briscoe designed for three generations of affluent clients, sited in such Houston neighborhoods as Courtlandt Place, Shadyside, Broadacres, and River Oaks, display his exceptional skill in formulating stylistic and social identities for his wealthy clients and their families. In The Architecture of Birdsall P. Briscoe, architectural historian Stephen Fox examines the country houses designed by Briscoe, offering a glimpse into the architect’s methods as well as analyzing how Briscoe constructed a “social architecture” to frame his clientele during periods of economic expansion and contraction. Fox demonstrates how Briscoe cultivated and managed elements of taste, style, and fashion to embody assertions of class identity and solidarity in the context of Houston’s capitalist economy. Additionally, Fox shows how Briscoe and his peers interpreted and reflected early twentieth-century Progressive Era design ideals in giving shape to the vision of local civic leaders. Illustrated throughout with masterful color photography by Paul Hester, this original study of one of Texas’ most distinguished residential architects will enthrall readers with both its detail and its contextual clarity. As he did in his book on the architecture of John F. Staub, Fox delivers a treasure trove of insight into a vital period of Houston’s social history and the architect who helped design it.

A Thousand Blunders

A Thousand Blunders PDF Author: Frank Leonard
Publisher: UBC Press
ISBN: 0774842598
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 354

Get Book Here

Book Description
In A Thousand Blunders, Frank Leonard looks at why the 'Road of a Thousand Wonders' failed to live up to the expectations forecast by company president Charles M. Hays and other senior managers. Not only was the railway built through a sparsely settled region, which generated little immediate traffic, but its economic difficulties were also compounded by the numerous mistakes made by managers at all levels: for example, their failure to respond adequately to labour shortages caused serious delays and prevented the company from proving Prince Rupert as an effective alternative harbour before World War I broke out. For this book, Frank Leonard had access to a wealth of original documents, among them the GTP legal department files, providing him with insights into the decisions that formed the basis for policies in townsites and on Indian reserves. A Thousand Blunders is a provocative account of one of the greatest failures in Canadian entrepreneurial history. Richly detailed and thoroughly documented, it makes an important contribution to the fields of railway and business history, as well as to the study of the history of northern British Columbia.

Dallas

Dallas PDF Author: Patricia Evridge Hill
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 9780292731042
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 276

Get Book Here

Book Description
From the ruthless deals of the Ewing clan on TV's "Dallas" to the impeccable customer service of Neiman-Marcus, doing business has long been the hallmark of Dallas. Beginning in the 1920s and 1930s, Dallas business leaders amassed unprecedented political power and civic influence, which remained largely unchallenged until the 1970s. In this innovative history, Patricia Evridge Hill explores the building of Dallas in the years before business interests rose to such prominence (1880 to 1940) and discovers that many groups contributed to the development of the modern city. In particular, she looks at the activities of organized labor, women's groups, racial minorities, Populist and socialist radicals, and progressive reformers—all of whom competed and compromised with local business leaders in the decades before the Great Depression. This research challenges the popular view that business interests have always run Dallas and offers a historically accurate picture of the city's development. The legacy of pluralism that Hill uncovers shows that Dallas can accommodate dissent and conflict as it moves toward a more inclusive public life. Dallas will be fascinating and important reading for all Texans, as well as for all students of urban development.

Kivalina

Kivalina PDF Author: Christine Shearer
Publisher: Haymarket Books
ISBN: 1608461718
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Get Book Here

Book Description
The true story of an Alaska Native village destroyed by flooding and erosion caused by climate change—and how they fought for help. Warming Arctic temperatures have been making coastal areas of Alaska increasingly uninhabitable. In 2008, the small Alaska Native village of Kivalina filed a legal claim against some of the world’s largest fossil fuel companies for damaging their homeland and creating a false debate around climate change. Academic and former journalist Christine Shearer explores the history leading up to the lawsuit, its connections to disaster management and adaptation, and its relationship to past misinformation campaigns involving lead, asbestos, and tobacco. Kivalina’s struggle for safe relocation, the book argues, is part of our common struggle to acknowledge and address climate change before it is too late. 2012 Rachel Carson Environment Book Award (Honorable Mention) Praise for Kivalina “Moving, infuriating, ominous . . . . Shearer provides an impressively concise and comprehensive history of the growth of corporate power in America; its influence on, entwinement with, and corruption of government; [and] corporate obfuscation of industrial hazards.” —Publisher’s Weekly “Best book of 2011: one of the most timely and important books to be published in 2011—and in the past decade.” —Jeff Biggers, The Huffington Post “In novelistic detail, Shearer recounts the science, politics, legal battles, and human experience at one of the leading edges of climate change impact. In doing so, she . . . tells the story not just of one village in Alaska, but of us all.” —The Society of Environmental Journalists