Patton Boggs history

1963: George Blow joins firm.

In 1966 Boggs decided to begin practicing law and interviewed with a large number of Washington-area firms.

Timothy May, who would become managing partner, joined in March 1969 and two years later made partner, necessitating yet another name change.

1973: Firm adopts Patton, Boggs and Blow name.

The election of Democrat Jimmy Carter to the White House in 1976 was also a boon to Patton Boggs's lobbying efforts, as Tommy Boggs forged his reputation as a Democratic rainmaker.

The days were long gone when Tommy Boggs could pick up the phone and orchestrate a corporate bailout, as he did for Chrysler in 1979.

By 1980 Patton Boggs employed 38 attorneys.

A more legitimate attempt at regional expansion was the 1988 acquisition of a Greensboro, North Carolina-based law firm: Foster, Conner, Robson & Gumbiner.

It was never found, he was presumed dead, and his wife, Lindy, was elected to replace him—a seat she held until her resignation in 1991.

In 1992 the firm hired Dallas-area attorneys with financial service expertise and opened a Dallas office.

Democratic ties not withstanding, Patton Boggs played a major role in thwarting Clinton's effort to implement healthcare reforms, a defeat that crippled his presidency and led to the Democrats losing the House to Republicans in 1994.

According to a 1995 Washington Monthly article, "Not only did [Patton Boggs's] victory confirm their reputation, but the total defeat of all health reform also means that the issue will come around again, and with it, another rush of clients paying top prices to have Patton Boggs on their side.

1997: Stuart Pape is named managing partner.

Invoking the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, Chevron also contended that Texaco had cleaned up a portion of its pollution and received a complete liability release from the government of Ecuador in 1998.

In 2000 Patton Boggs opened an office in northern Virginia to become involved in the high-tech boom the area was enjoying.

Texaco persuaded a federal judge to dismiss the case on procedural grounds in 2001, the same year the company was acquired by Chevron.

In 2003, though, the American attorneys restarted the litigation in Ecuador, now naming Chevron as the defendant.

Entering 2005 Patton Boggs employed 400 attorneys and generated revenues in excess of $200 million a year.

In the wake of the 2008 housing bust and recession, however, Patton Boggs faced head winds in a shifting business environment.

Donziger had turned the litigation into a media sensation, arranging for splashy coverage in Vanity Fair and on CBS’s 60 Minutes and CNN. He’d solicited and helped assemble financing for a supportive documentary film called Crude, which debuted to critical acclaim at Sundance in January 2009.

By late 2010, Tyrrell's group had put together a new report in which their Ph.D.s-for-hire calculated the pollution damages at a gargantuan $113 billion, four times more than even the dubious Ecuadorian expert had calculated.

In February 2011, that Ecuadorian judge delivered a 188-page opinion finding Chevron liable for harm to the environment and individuals and assessing damages of about $9 billion.

In 2012, a remarkable battle unfolded in United States District Court in Washington, D.C. Patton Boggs, the D.C. lobbying-and-law powerhouse co-founded by Thomas Hale Boggs Jr., faced off against Chevron, the sort of multinational corporation Patton Boggs normally represents.

One morning in June 2013, Patton Boggs partners woke up to find that the Washington Post had published a 5,600-word opus cataloguing the firm’s travails.