Commercial Lending and Finance Partner Laura Martone Rejoins Bracewell in New York

NEW YORK, May 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bracewell LLP announced today that Laura S. Martone, a leading commercial lending and finance lawyer, has rejoined the firm as a partner in the New York office, strengthening the firm's capabilities in helping its banking and finance clients address opportunities in the energy and infrastructure markets. Martone arrives on the heels of Frank Lee and Theodore F. Duver, who joined the New York office in April with a focus on solar and renewable energy.

"We are thrilled to welcome Laura back to the firm," said Bracewell Managing Partner Gregory M. Bopp. "Laura is an exceptional practitioner, whose experience and insights add further depth to our market-leading finance practice."

Martone advises financial institutions and other lenders and borrowers in the structuring, negotiation and documentation of a variety of secured and unsecured credit transactions, including acquisition financings, project financings, term loans, working capital loans, letter of credit facilities, commodity financings, and oil and gas secured financings. She also represents borrowers and lenders in out-of-court restructurings and bankruptcy proceedings. Martone began her career at Bracewell in 2005, leaving in 2016 to work in Haynes and Boones, LLP's Orange County office.

"Laura was an accomplished and successful young partner when she left the firm, who enjoyed a strong rapport with our banking and corporate clients," said Dewey J. Gonsoulin Jr., co-chair of Bracewell's lending practice. "This familiarity will help us expand existing client relationships while fostering new ones."

Martone rejoins one of the largest dedicated energy finance teams in New York and North America. Bracewell advises borrowers and lenders on billions of dollars of financial transactions every year, with strengths across the energy value chain, including upstream, midstream, downstream, exploration and production, refining, chemicals, oil field services, power, renewables and other adjacent industries. The firm represents many of the world's largest lending institutions, funds and institutional investors as financing parties, as well as national and multinational companies as borrowers in high-level and complex financing deals.

Martone is the ninth lateral partner or senior principal to join Bracewell in 2021, and she is among the 23 current Bracewell lawyers who left the firm and have since returned. Other recent lateral partner hires include Duver and Lee in New York; Ibrahim Siddiki in Dubai; Tom Jamieson, Ronen Lazarovitch, Jo En Low and Gordon Stewart in London; and Yasmin Nelson in Washington, DC.

"I'm excited to return to Bracewell and reconnect with my former colleagues and clients," said Martone.

Martone earned her J.D., summa cum laude, Order of the Coif, from the University of Houston Law Center and received her B.B.A., summa cum laude, from Texas A&M University. Prior to entering private practice, she clerked with the Honorable Phil Johnson and the Honorable Michael H. Schneider at the Supreme Court of Texas.

About Bracewell LLP

Bracewell is a leading law and government relations firm primarily serving the energy, infrastructure, finance and technology industries throughout the world. Our industry focus results in comprehensive state-of-the-art knowledge of the commercial, legal and governmental challenges faced by our clients and enables us to provide innovative solutions to facilitate transactions and resolve disputes.

SOURCE Bracewell LLP