Date: Wed, 31 Dec 1997 20:17:46 GMT Server: Apache/1.2b8 Connection: close Content-Type: text/html Baker & McKenzie- Firm Profile
Firm Profile

The international Baker & McKenzie partnership was formed in Chicago in 1949. During the fifties and sixties it was driven by the great outflow of US investment around the globe. The initial strategy of the firm was to develop a hub-and-spokes system of offices with Chicago at the hub and with indigenous partners in foreign offices servicing incoming American clients.

The pattern of world trade and investment has since become more multinational, and Baker & McKenzie has changed with it. Today the firm maintains a global network of offices with each office having strong local roots.

The composition of the international partnership reflects the geographical distribution of the offices. Each international partner has an equal vote in the management of the firm.

Partners and associates around the world maintain contact with each other through client work, individual visits to other offices, regional meetings of partners and associates, multi-office practice group meetings, meetings of committees of the firm and an annual meeting of all partners.

The firm encourages its lawyers to constantly improve their understanding of different legal systems and cultures so that they can bring to their practices a greater range of skills and a broader outlook. Lawyers are encouraged to qualify or obtain legal experience in at least two jurisdictions, and there is frequent interchange between offices, both at partner and associate level.

Our international structure and approach provides the following benefits:

  • For clients engaged in international business, it provides speed of service and ready access to a range of professional experience and resource materials that would be impractical to assemble in a single location. For example, any office can call on experience in relation to joint ventures in China, venture capital structures in San Francisco, captive insurance companies in New York, anti-dumping law in Washington DC, technology transfer in Brazil, employment law in London, taxation in France - the list is endless.

  • For clients engaged in purely local business, it provides a stimulating environment in which creative legal solutions can be developed, drawing on experience from other jurisdictions.

  • For lawyers working in the firm, it provides wider horizons for the practice of law.

  • The decentralised structure of our global partnership combines the advantages of being large with the energy and personal commitment more easily achieved in smaller firms.
  • |
    Main index| Areas of Practice | Country Locations | Publications |

    Contact us by email