Practical, Comprehensive Corporate Advice
Our corporate and securities lawyers serve as trusted advisors to some of the world’s leading companies, financial institutions and private equity firms. We advise Fortune 500 companies, as well as small-cap and mid-cap companies, on a range of legal and business matters, including capital markets transactions, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, securities law compliance and other general corporate matters across multiple jurisdictions. Our longstanding corporate clients include Allegiance Bancshares, Carlyle, DCP Midstream, Eni, Evercore, Global Infrastructure Partners, Holly Energy, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Kinder Morgan, Lilis Energy, Phillips 66, Pioneer Bancshares, Piper Sandler, Prosperity Bancshares, Sysco, Tallgrass Energy and Textron.
Our corporate team provides practical and comprehensive advice that draws on our market-leading tax, antitrust, energy regulatory, environmental, intellectual property, labor and employment, benefits and executive compensation, real estate and litigation practices.
Bracewell’s unparalleled experience in the energy industry gives us unique access to capital markets for funding of projects and entities, such as master limited partnerships, renewables projects and infrastructure projects. We nationally rank at the top of leagues tables for the number and value for energy and utilities offerings. In 2021, S&P Global ranked us:
#12 – By Number of Deals
#20 – By Volume
Areas of Focus
- Capital Markets
- Corporate Governance & Compliance
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs)
Capital Markets
We have one of the leading capital markets practices in the United States. Our clients include Fortune 500 companies such as Kinder Morgan, Phillips 66 and Sysco, as well as leading underwriters. We also are one of a select group of firms that regularly represents community banking institutions in capital markets offerings. We have worked on virtually every IPO of a Texas-based bank, and we regularly represent the two leading underwriters in the community banking space: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and Piper Sandler.
We combine deep industry knowledge and technical skills to help clients navigate capital markets, structure debt and equity offerings and comply with securities requirements. We represent issuers and underwriters in billions of dollars of securities offerings each year, consistently ranking among the top legal advisors in the national league tables published by Refinitiv and S&P Global.
Meet the teamCorporate Governance & Compliance
We advise public and private companies on compliance with corporate and securities laws, including issues related to corporate governance and duties of directors and officers, SEC reporting, environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies and disclosures, state corporate partnership and limited liability company law matters, securities laws, and regulations and stock exchange rules.
Meet the teamMergers & Acquisitions
Our Mergers and Acquisitions lawyers are highly regarded within the legal industry. As one client told Legal 500 US (2020), Bracewell’s M&A team is “commercially focused and takes on our projects as their own, assuming personal responsibility for our combined success.”
We represent buyers, sellers, special committees and financial advisors, as well as funds, companies and management teams in private equity investments. Our clients include leading energy companies, such as Apache Corporation, Concho Resources, DCP Midstream, Holly Energy Partners, Kinder Morgan, Inc., TC Energy Corporation, Phillips 66 and Pioneer Natural Resources Company, as well as bank holding companies, such as Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. and Allegiance Bancshares Inc.
Our M&A lawyers advise on virtually every type of purchase and sale transaction involving public and privately held businesses. These transactions include mergers, stock sales and exchanges, management and leveraged buyouts, acquisitions and dispositions of partnership interests and joint venture interests, acquisitions and dispositions of assets, tender offers, recapitalizations, roll-ups and other business combinations.
Meet the teamMaster Limited Partnerships (MLPs)
We are nationally recognized for our deep experience in the legal issues related to Master Limited Partnerships, or MLPs. We have represented MLPs, their special committees and MLP sponsors since the creation of the modern MLP structure in the 1980s.
We represent many of the largest and most active MLPs in IPO and other capital markets offerings, drop-downs, mergers and acquisitions, and commercial contracts, as well as in tax, finance, regulatory, environmental and litigation matters. We also represent conflicts committees in drop-downs, MLP buy-ins and mergers, incentive distribution right (IDR) waivers and restructurings, preferred unit issuances and other related-party transactions, investment banking firms in fairness opinions rendered to conflicts committees of MLPs and lenders to MLPs.
Meet the teamWe have one of the leading capital markets practices in the United States. Our clients include Fortune 500 companies such as Kinder Morgan, Phillips 66 and Sysco, as well as leading underwriters. We also are one of a select group of firms that regularly represents community banking institutions in capital markets offerings. We have worked on virtually every IPO of a Texas-based bank, and we regularly represent the two leading underwriters in the community banking space: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and Piper Sandler.
We combine deep industry knowledge and technical skills to help clients navigate capital markets, structure debt and equity offerings and comply with securities requirements. We represent issuers and underwriters in billions of dollars of securities offerings each year, consistently ranking among the top legal advisors in the national league tables published by Refinitiv and S&P Global.
Meet the teamWe advise public and private companies on compliance with corporate and securities laws, including issues related to corporate governance and duties of directors and officers, SEC reporting, environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies and disclosures, state corporate partnership and limited liability company law matters, securities laws, and regulations and stock exchange rules.
Meet the teamOur Mergers and Acquisitions lawyers are highly regarded within the legal industry. As one client told Legal 500 US (2020), Bracewell’s M&A team is “commercially focused and takes on our projects as their own, assuming personal responsibility for our combined success.”
We represent buyers, sellers, special committees and financial advisors, as well as funds, companies and management teams in private equity investments. Our clients include leading energy companies, such as Apache Corporation, Concho Resources, DCP Midstream, Holly Energy Partners, Kinder Morgan, Inc., TC Energy Corporation, Phillips 66 and Pioneer Natural Resources Company, as well as bank holding companies, such as Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. and Allegiance Bancshares Inc.
Our M&A lawyers advise on virtually every type of purchase and sale transaction involving public and privately held businesses. These transactions include mergers, stock sales and exchanges, management and leveraged buyouts, acquisitions and dispositions of partnership interests and joint venture interests, acquisitions and dispositions of assets, tender offers, recapitalizations, roll-ups and other business combinations.
Meet the teamWe are nationally recognized for our deep experience in the legal issues related to Master Limited Partnerships, or MLPs. We have represented MLPs, their special committees and MLP sponsors since the creation of the modern MLP structure in the 1980s.
We represent many of the largest and most active MLPs in IPO and other capital markets offerings, drop-downs, mergers and acquisitions, and commercial contracts, as well as in tax, finance, regulatory, environmental and litigation matters. We also represent conflicts committees in drop-downs, MLP buy-ins and mergers, incentive distribution right (IDR) waivers and restructurings, preferred unit issuances and other related-party transactions, investment banking firms in fairness opinions rendered to conflicts committees of MLPs and lenders to MLPs.
Meet the teamRecognition for Global Excellence
Our lawyers are globally recognized for excellence in corporate and securities transactions in the United States, the UK and the EMEA region.
- Chambers Global – UAE Corporate/Commercial and Commercial Contracts
- Chambers USA – Nationwide Electricity Finance; Nationwide Oil & Gas Transactional; Texas Capital Markets: Debt & Equity; Texas Corporate/M&A
- IFLR1000 – UK M&A; US M&A
- Legal 500 EMEA – UAE Commercial, Corporate and M&A
- Legal 500 US – Capital Markets Debt: Advice to Issuers; M&A Large Deals ($1 Billion+)
- U.S. News – Best Lawyers – National Corporate Law (Tier 1); National Securities/Capital Markets Law (Tier 1); Houston Corporate Law (Tier 1); Houston Securities/Capital Markets Law (Tier 1); Washington, DC Securities/Capital Markets Law
The firm has a really strong bench of lawyers who are really attentive to the needs of the client.
Chambers USA, 2023

Market-Leading Engagements
We advise clients on a diverse range of transactions.
Capital Markets
- Allegiance Bancshares, Inc. in its $60 million public offering of subordinated debt securities
- Apache Corporation in its offering of $500 million of 4.62% notes due 2025 and $750 million of 4.87% notes due 2027
- Underwriters for Bank7 Corp in its $65 million initial public offering of common stock
- Underwriters for DTE Energy Company in its offering of $230 million of junior subordinated debentures
- Duquesne Light Holdings, Inc. as initial purchasers’ counsel in 144A offering of $350 million of senior notes
- Underwriters for Evergy Kansas Central, Inc. in the offering by Evergy Kansas Central, Inc. (formerly Westar Energy, Inc.) of $500 million of first mortgage bonds
- Underwriters for Evergy, Inc. Notes in the $1.6 billion issuance of notes for this new parent company’s inaugural public offering
- FirstEnergy Corp. in its $1.62 billion of Series A Convertible preferred stock