Bracewell

Kate Day was just a few years out of law school when she found herself at a conference table facing a contingent of “ big guns ”– lawyers representing the doomed energy giant Enron . Day ’ s banking clients were lending Enron money , using its pipelines as security , in a last-ditch effort to forestall bankruptcy , and she had to negotiate legal opinions regarding the deal . “ I was like , ‘ All right , can I do this ?’ And I did .” Day has since worked on massive deals involving some of the biggest players in the energy industry , historically dominated by men . “ I still feel unusual in my world for being a woman .” But “ it ’ s not different just because there are a lot of lawyers on the other side from you .”

As she completed law school , Day wanted to work at a big firm in Houston . Because “ energy is the biggest game in this town ,” and because Bracewell needed a lawyer to work in finance , she ended up in energy finance . She found that if energy is big , the deals are bigger . Just in the past 18 months , Day has advised the lead lenders in financing deals worth a total of $ 6.7 billion for three of the five largest offshore drilling companies . She put together all-women legal teams in all the deals .

Day hopes to continue helping other women advance in her firm . “ It ’ s something you have to be conscious about . Even women experience unconscious bias toward men , because we ’ re so used to seeing successful lawyers being men .” Already , Bracewell has more women than men – partners and associates – working in finance , one of the firm ’ s largest groups . “ It ’ s no so unusual that you will find yourself working with an all-woman team , because there are just so many of us .”

Reprinted with permission from the October / November 2019 edition of Texas Lawyer © 2019 ALM Media Properties , LLC . All rights reserved . Further duplication without permission is prohibited . For information , contact 877-257-3382 or reprints @ alm . com . # TXL-08152019-411630