Angela Styles, the recently deposed chair of Crowell & Moring, joined Bracewell on Oct. 30 as a government contracts partner in Washington, D.C.

The move comes about a month after Styles was voted out of leadership at Crowell & Moring, where she practiced for 10 years. Last week Styles officially resigned from the firm after serving just one term as chair.

Styles said the move to Bracewell gives her the opportunity to “refocus on my practice.” She said she looked at a number of firms, but really liked Bracewell's strategic focus on energy and technology because that fits well with her practice. Plus, Styles is from Dallas and her husband is from Abilene, so she is excited to work at a firm with strong Texas roots.

Styles said she's known Mark Lewis, the managing partner of Bracewell's office in Washington, D.C., for many years. “I gave him a call. I spoke to a lot of other firms as well, but this is the one that clearly came to the top,” she said.

Lewis, who spoke this summer about Bracewell's efforts to expand its operations in the nation's capital, called Styles a highly respected and well-known government contracts lawyer.

“Angela's experience and relationships, both in private practice and the government, will strengthen Bracewell's ability to help our clients address the legal and regulatory issues associated with interfacing with the federal government,” he said.

Styles, who specializes in government contracts counseling and litigation work, would not say how long she had been looking for a new firm. At Bracewell, she will help Robert Wagman, a partner who joined Bracewell in March to establish its government contracts practice, build out that group at the firm.

Wagman said in a prepared statement that Styles has a ”unique understanding of the ins and outs of Washington,” which gives her a keen sense of the issues facing clients seeking work from the federal government.

Gregory Bopp, who took over last year as Bracewell's managing partner, said that Styles' proven leadership and expertise in government contracts work will be a benefit to his firm and its clients.

Styles declined to discuss the names of any specific clients that she represents or discuss the circumstances surrounding her abrupt departure from Crowell & Moring.

“I'd just rather focus on the go-forward,” Styles said, noting that she had a “terrific” 10 years at her old firm, whose new leader is Washington, D.C.-based white-collar and regulatory enforcement partner Philip Inglima.

While Styles was initially supposed to continue as chair of Crowell & Moring through February 2018, she told colleagues earlier this month that she intended to leave on Oct. 20.