Baker

BAKER & MCKENZIE

FOUNDED: Baker & McKenzie was founded in 1949 but it has its origins in Russell Baker's practice opened in 1925 upon his graduation. The early firm, Baker & Simpson provided legal services to Chicago's growing Mexican American community. The firm soon positioned itself to advise US companies investing in Latin America. In 1949, the firm relaunched with JohnMcKenzie, an experienced litigator who took charge of the flourishing litigation practice, and Baker was able to devote his energies to building an international practice.
HEADQUARTERS: Chicago. The Chicago office houses Baker & McKenzie Global Services LLC, which coordinates Baker & McKenzie operations worldwide
LAWYERS: there are currently more tan 4,000 lawyers employed (ranked largest inthe US by number of attorneys in 2012)
PARTNERS: there are currently 1,400 partners in the firm.
OFFICES ( 71 offices in 44 countries):

Asia Pacific
* Australia (Melbourne, Sydney)
* China (Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai)
* Indonesia (Jakarta)
* Japan (Tokyo)
* Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur)
* Philippines (Manila)
* Taiwan (Taipei)
* Singapore
* Taiwan (Taipei)
*Thailand (Bangkok)
* Vietnam (Hanoi, Ho Chi Min)
Europe
* Austria
* Netherlands
* Poland
* Belgium
* Czech Republic
* France
* Germany
* Hungary
* Italy
* Luxembourg
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Ukraine
* United Kingdom

Middle East & Africa
* Azerbaijan
* Bahrain
* Egypt
* Kazahstan
* Marocco
*Qatar
* Russia
* Saudi Arabia
* South Africa
* Turkey
* United Arab Emirates

Latin America
* Argentina
* Brazil
* Chile
* Colombia
* Mexico
* Venezuela

North America
* US: chicago, Dallas, Houston, Miami, New York, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Washington D.C.
* Canada: Toronto

FIRST INTERNATIONAL OFFICE: The firm became an international firmafter 1955 when a lawyer in Venezuela contacted Baker & McKenzie about opening a joint venture office in Caracas. Donald Baker, the name partner's son, soon moved to Caracas to launch a practice for the firm. In the next three years, flags were planted in Washington, D.C., Amsterdam, Brussels, Zurich, New York and São Paulo. Unlike fellow American firms that often practiced US law abroad, Baker& McKenzie made a decision to train local lawyers, often bringing them to the Chicago base for an initial period or temporarily relocating US attorneys to the foreign office to oversee the establishment of the practice. By 1978 Baker & McKenzie had 26 offices in 20 countries

MAIN PRACTICE AREAS:
*
* Antitrust & Competition
* Automotive
* Banking & Finance
*Corporate Computing
* Dispute Resolution
* Employement
* Energy, Mining & Infrastrucure
* Environmental
* Information Technology and Telecommunications
* Insurance
* Intellectual Property
* Mergers and Acquisitions
* Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare
* Private Equity
* Real Estate
* Securities
* Tax
* Trade & Commerce

SIZE IN TERMSOF REVENUE: made 2.313 billion US$ in the 2012 fiscal year, making it the largest firm in the US by revenue.

PRESENCE IN SPAIN: offices in Madrid and Barcelona making it the most established international law firm in Spain. The 400 lawyers mainly specialize in inbound and outbound investment

NOTABLE DEALS OR CASES:

In October 2006, Unilever chose the firm to manage its global trademarkportfolio, the largest in the world with over 160,000 registrations. It was the first time a multinational company outsourced its trademark management to a law firm on such a large scale

The Kingdom of Bahrain, in relation to its USD 1, 500,000,000 bond issuance

Abbott Laboratories' acquisition of Solvay Pharmaceuticals SA from Solvay SA, the Belgium-based chemicals and pharmaceuticals...