The city is paying law firm Bracewell & Giuliani $15,000 to conduct a review of the airport-linked nonprofit HAS Development Corp., according to a copy of the city's contract with the firm.

Texas Watchdog obtained the contract under the state's public records law. The deal was formalized June 10, almost a month after the review was announced in the wake of the abrupt retirement of airport chief Richard Vacar.

The deal calls for one partner, Kelly Frels, to work on the investigation at $425 an hour and an associate, Harry F. Wright Jr., to put in time at $260 an hour.

The contract is standard issue and doesn’t address the specifics of what the firm is looking for, although we’ve been told by city Chief Administrative Officer Anthony W. Hall Jr. that a lot of it concerns the possibility of HASDC getting involved in some projects without the knowledge of City Hall.

Houston City Attorney Arturo Michel used to work for Bracewell & Giuliani, and he has taken some recent criticism because two of his former colleagues there now work for another law firm that the city has hired to perform a review of the Houston Fire Department, where allegations of racism and sex discrimination have come to the fore in recent weeks.

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