Kelly Frels is a past chair of the Quality of Life Advisory Committee, Environment Advisory Committee, the Government Relations Advisory Committee and the Flood Control Task Force. He currently serves as an emeritus director member of the board. Frels joined Bracewell LLP in 1970, became a partner in 1976 and was elected managing partner in 1994, a position he held until July, 2001. Bracewell maintains offices in Texas; Washington, D.C.; Connecticut; New York; London; Kazakhstan and Dubai. The law firm is one of the largest in Texas, employing over 450 attorneys. Founded in 1945 in Houston, the firm provides legal and business counsel to clients in a diverse array of industries as well as to the government and public entities.

Frels has served on the boards and was president of the Houston Bar Association and the State Bar of Texas. He was the chair of the Center for Houston's Future and the chair of the Texas Environmental Research Consortium. He also served as co-chair of the Texas Clean air Working Group. He was honored as the Outstanding Young Lawyer of Texas by the Texas Young Lawyer's Association in 1979. He is a graduate of Texas State University and The University of Texas School of Law.