Bracewell Elects Four New Partners, Building on Strong Lateral Hiring in 2021

HOUSTON – Bracewell LLP is pleased to announce the election of four lawyers to the firm’s partnership, effective January 1, 2022. The newly elected partners are Amber K. Dodds (San Antonio), Patrick K. Johnson (Houston), Robert Meade (London) and Brittany M. Pemberton (Washington, DC).

“I am thrilled to welcome these outstanding lawyers to our partnership,” said Bracewell Managing Partner Gregory M. Bopp. “They embody a commitment to excellence and collaboration that allow us to be a firm of choice for the complex litigation, regulatory and transactional needs of our clients.”

The internal promotions follow an active year of lateral recruiting in which Bracewell added 13 lateral partners and senior principals, further strengthening the firm’s international reach, as well as its energy, finance, government enforcement and investigations, healthcare, international arbitration and regulatory offerings.

2022 Partner Class

Amber K. Dodds, San Antonio — Dodds advises employers on labor and employment issues, such as leave administration, employee investigations, OSHA compliance, the use of background checks and consumer reports, employee discipline and preventing harassment and retaliation claims. She served as an intern in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas and the Texas First Court of Appeals. Dodds earned her B.A., summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Trinity University, her Masters of Theological Studies, summa cum laude, from Boston University, and her J.D., with honors, from The University of Texas School of Law. Dodds has twice been named “One to Watch” in San Antonio labor and employment law by The Best Lawyers in America.

Patrick K. Johnson, Houston — Johnson represents clients across the energy sector in transactions that include mergers, acquisitions and divestitures of assets and companies, joint venture arrangements and project finance and development. From 2015 to 2017, Johnson served as in-house counsel to ExxonMobil, where he provided legal support for upstream and midstream projects in Europe, North America, South America and Australia. He earned his B.A., with honors and Phi Beta Kappa, from The University of Texas at Austin, and his J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law. Johnson was named “One to Watch” in both Houston M&A and Houston oil and gas law by The Best Lawyers in America.

Robert Meade, London — Meade acts on international disputes in the oil and gas, power and renewables sectors. He represents clients on international arbitrations, including under the LCIA and ICC rules, and also on disputes in the English high court. Meade has particular experience on disputes resulting from asset/share acquisitions and international construction disputes. He also advises on international trade and sanctions issues. Meade earned his LL.B., first class, from University of Reading, and his L.P.C., with distinction, from The College of Law, London. He is recommended in The Legal 500 United Kingdom for international disputes. In 2019, Meade was recognized as a “Rising Star” in Legal 500’s International Arbitration Powerlist: United Kingdom, which described him as “one of the most promising young counsel on the London scene.”

Brittany M. Pemberton, Washington, DC — Pemberton advises energy and industrial clients in environmental policy, regulatory compliance and enforcement matters, including stationary source enforcement and compliance matters under the Clean Air Act before the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and various state agencies. She also represents organizations participating in the federal rulemaking process, obtaining federal permits and authorizations and challenging federal decisions in court. Pemberton served as a legal intern for the EPA and the US Department of Interior. She earned her B.M., summa cum laude, from University of Cincinnati College – Conservatory of Music, her M.M. from James Madison University, and her J.D., with honors, from The George Washington University Law School. The Best Lawyers in America has recognized Pemberton as “One to Watch” in Washington, DC for energy, environmental, and oil and gas law.

2021 Lateral Partner and Senior Principal Hires

In addition to internal promotions, Bracewell expanded its partnership in 2021 with the addition of 11 lateral partner hires, including Patrick Bredehoft, Andrew C. Cookingham, Seth D. DuCharme, Theodore F. Duver, Martin F. Gusy, Tom Jamieson, Wilson G. Jones, Ronen Lazarovitch, Frank Lee, Jeffrey L. Oldham and Gordon Stewart.

Patrick Bredehoft, Dallas — Bredehoft joined Bracewell in August 2021 as a partner in the healthcare practice. He maintains an active trial and arbitration practice, with a focus on healthcare and commercial disputes and qui tam litigation defense. He has secured significant settlements, judgments and awards for plaintiffs and defendants nationwide. His clients include hospital systems, medical device manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, physicians and long-term care facilities. Bredehoft has significant experience litigating healthcare disputes involving managed care arrangements, billing and reimbursement, qui tam and False Claims Act enforcement, and healthcare fraud and malpractice allegations. Bredehoft earned his B.S., with honors, from Colorado State University and his J.D., with honors and Order of the Coif, from The University of Texas School of Law. He is ranked in Chambers USA as a leading lawyer in Texas healthcare.

Andrew C. Cookingham, Dallas — Cookingham joined Bracewell in August 2021 as a partner in the healthcare practice. He represents hospitals, physician groups, air ambulance companies and other healthcare providers in regulatory matters and insurance disputes. His experience includes claims involving medical necessity denials, readmission denials, DRG downgrades, line item/charge audits and disallowances, and pay policies. Cookingham also represents providers in investigations involving government program payments and out-of-network providers in disputes involving the alleged failure to pay the usual and customary rate. He earned his B.S., with honors, from the University of Virginia, and his J.D., magna cum laude, from SMU Dedman School of Law. Cookingham is ranked in Chambers USA as a leading lawyer in Texas healthcare.

Seth D. DuCharme, New York — DuCharme joined Bracewell in May 2021 as a partner in the government enforcement and investigations practice. DuCharme served in the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York from 2008 through 2021. He held various positions at the Eastern District, including chief of the Criminal Division, chief of the National Security & Cybercrime Section and acting US attorney. From March 2019 through July 2020, DuCharme served on detail to Main Justice, where he served as senior counselor to the attorney general for criminal, national security and cybersecurity matters before attaining the position of principal associate deputy attorney general of the United States. In that capacity, he worked directly with the deputy attorney general to oversee all of the Department’s litigating and law enforcement components. DuCharme earned his B.A., with honors, from Hamilton College and his J.D., cum laude and Order of the Coif, from Fordham University School of Law.

Theodore F. Duver, New York — Duver joined Bracewell in April 2021 as a partner in the corporate and securities practice. Duver represents renewable energy companies and investor-owned and cooperative utilities in matters implicating federal and state regulations. He has extensive experience representing energy companies before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and state public service commissions. He also advises energy clients on M&A and other transactional matters, including the financing, acquisition and development of community distributed generation and other renewable energy projects. Duver received his B.A., magna cum laude, from Syracuse University and his J.D. from Cornell Law School.

Martin F. Gusy, New York — Gusy joined Bracewell in June 2021 as a partner and lead of the firm’s international arbitration practice. Gusy is a dual-licensed common law-civil law disputes attorney with over 20 years of experience representing commercial parties and sovereigns in cross-border disputes and transactions. He has played a leading role in more than 100 high-stakes international dispute resolution, international commercial arbitration, investor-state/investment arbitration, US litigation and corporate matters. Gusy has represented clients headquartered in Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia on a broad range of matters, including energy, technology, manufacturing and engineering joint ventures, oil and gas, mining, banking and finance, construction, distribution and franchising, insurance, IP protection and IP licensing. Gusy is a graduate of Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz and Cornell Law School. 

Tom Jamieson, London — Jamieson joined Bracewell in January 2021 as a partner in the firm’s global energy practice. Jamieson has extensive project development and finance experience, with a focus on power, energy transition and low carbon projects. He advises developers, financial investors, banks and multilaterals on all aspects of the project cycle, from structuring and negotiating the commercial contracts through to financing, refinancing and divesting relevant assets. Jamieson has experience throughout the EMEA region, with particular experience in relation to African transactions. He is a graduate of University of St. Andrews. Jamieson is recommended in The Legal 500 United Kingdom for emerging markets finance, and power and renewables projects.

Wilson G. Jones, Dallas — Jones joined Bracewell in August 2021 as a partner and chair of the healthcare practice. Over his 28-year career, Jones has provided counsel on the full range of legal issues faced by clients in the healthcare, pharma and life sciences industry, including representing and advising clients in compliance and regulatory matters, health industry transactions, and investigation and enforcement actions. He also has extensive experience with internal investigations, complex regulatory and reimbursement analyses, overpayment disputes and negotiations with various government agencies and enforcement bodies. Jones earned his B.A., with honors, from Texas Tech University, and his J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law. Jones is the former chair of the Health Law Section of the State Bar of Texas and is ranked Band 1 for Texas healthcare in Chambers USA.

Ronen Lazarovitch, London — Lazarovitch joined Bracewell in March 2021 as a partner in the firm’s global energy practice. Lazarovitch advises sponsors, project companies, lenders and governments on all aspects of major projects in the energy, mining, infrastructure and power sectors, with particular experience in upstream and midstream oil and gas and hydrocarbons. Lazarovitch has played a leading role on strategically important, first-of-their-kind transactions in countries throughout the Middle East, Europe and Africa, including Bulgaria, Egypt, Greece, Jordan, Kenya, Qatar, Russia and Uganda, among others. Lazarovitch received his Bachelor of Commerce in economics and LL.B. from the University of Otago in New Zealand, and his LL.M. from St. Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge. He is recommended in The Legal 500 United Kingdom for emerging markets finance, oil and gas projects and real estate construction.

Frank Lee, New York — Lee joined Bracewell in April 2021 as a partner in the corporate and securities practice. Lee advises renewable energy developers, project sponsors and solar panel manufacturers on acquisitions, divestitures and commercial arrangements, as well as electric utilities on corporate finance and securities, SEC compliance and corporate governance matters. He also represents issuers and underwriters in various securities offerings and other financings. Lee received his B.A. from Cornell University and his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. He is ranked as a leading lawyer for energy law in The Best Lawyers in America.

Jeffrey L. Oldham, Houston — Oldham rejoined the firm in December 2021 as a partner in the appellate practice. He has presented oral argument in the Supreme Court of the United States, the Supreme Court of Texas, federal appellate courts across the country (including the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit), and state courts of appeals throughout Texas. Oldham served as a law clerk to US Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and to Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson of the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He also served as Counsel to the Attorney General in the US Department of Justice. Most recently, Oldham served for more than three years as General Counsel in the Office of the Governor for the State of Texas. Oldham graduated first in his class, summa cum laude, with a B.S.B.A. from University of Tulsa, and first in his class, magna cum laude, with a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law.

Gordon Stewart, London — Stewart joined Bracewell in January 2021 as a partner in the firm’s global energy practice. Stewart is an energy infrastructure lawyer with a focus on advising financial investors, private equity houses, as well as corporates and their banks and funders on renewable energy and power transactions. He has worked on several first-of-their-kind transactions, advising clients on their acquisitions, joint development arrangements and financing of renewable and low carbon assets, as well as related energy infrastructure. Stewart earned his M.A. from St. Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge, and his L.P.C. from The College of Law, London. He is recognized as a rising star in IFLR1000 for project finance and is recommended in The Legal 500 United Kingdom for emerging markets finance, and power and renewables projects.