Law firm highlights – October 2021

• Baker McKenzie has announced revenues for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021 (FY21) of USD3.1 billion, the first time the Firm has crossed the USD3 billion mark. Revenues increased by 7.8 per cent compared to the previous year, and together with carefully managed costs, this resulted in a 36.7 per cent year-on-year growth in profits. Most regions recorded significant growth – Asia Pacific revenues were up 5.8 per cent, EMEA higher by 12.7 per cent and North America increased by 5.5 per cent. Latin America revenues dropped 5.6 per cent, mostly due to steep local currency devaluations in Argentina and Brazil, but were positive on a constant currency basis. EMEA saw strong growth in the UK, the Middle East, Poland, Austria and Sweden. In Asia Pacific the financial centres of Hong Kong and Japan were the strongest performing markets. North American growth was driven in part by a strong performance on the West Coast. The firm’s PPP for FY21 is up 41.5 per cent as compared with FY20, reflecting revenue growth in this wide range of markets. Compared with pre-pandemic FY19, FY21 PPP reflected a 25.1 per cent increase. In terms of industry focus, Baker McKenzie continued to build out its client base and offerings amongst the Healthcare & Life Sciences and Technology sectors, while on the practice front, Baker McKenzie remains a transactional powerhouse, with M&A growth up eight per cent, alongside particularly strong growth in Private Equity (+30 per cent). Both Employment & Compensation and Dispute Resolution were also strong performers, with growth of 15 per cent year on year.

• Squire Patton Boggs announced that Michele L. Connell will serve as the next Global Managing Partner of the firm’s US LLP, which consists of 34 of the firm’s 45 international offices. She will succeed Fred Nance who served in the same role since 2016 and who will remain part of the firm’s Executive Leadership Group, leading Squire’s newly created “Office of DEI” (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion). Connell has served as managing partner of the firm’s Cleveland office and is a recognised expert and strategic advisor to its corporate clients. Her legal practice focuses on international mergers and acquisitions, with deep expertise in key geographies such as China and Brazil. She also advises public and private companies and their boards of directors on shareholder activism, corporate governance practices, and securities compliance matters. Ms. Connell began her career as a diplomat for the US Department of State, where she advanced the mission of the US Government while serving in the US Embassies in Poland and Honduras. She serves on the boards of directors of several non-profit organizations and focuses her efforts on advancing women in the legal profession, including through her involvement with DirectWomen, an organization dedicated to increasing the representation of women attorneys on corporate boards. She led the firm’s Advancing Women’s Taskforce since 2019, which was established to study and make recommendations to firm-wide leadership on the advancement and retention of women lawyers. Connell’s appointment is effective on January 1, 2022 and, for transition purposes, she and Nance will serve as co-global managing partners throughout 2022.

• Al Tamimi & Company has moved into an office that has completely transformed how the law firm operates. The new office is located at Central Park Towers – the largest single-owned office development in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The new space has been designed to harness and facilitate a new way of working, a more innovative approach that creates an inspiring environment for staff, offers a better work life balance and a more dynamic way of working. Al Tamimi & Company credits the new bespoke office as its main enabler that will ensure its hybrid working model is a success. The law firm had originally planned to secure up to 100,000sq ft, however the implementation of its hybrid working model meant that it ended up taking only 60,000 sq ft. The new space and way of working will not only inspire, enable collaboration, and ensure dynamic working practices, but it will push the law firm towards a paperless model in a bid to continue to improve its environmental footprint and achieve its sustainability objectives. The Al Tamimi & Company offices will occupy 60,000 sq. ft. in Central Park Towers, which is specially designed as a hub where smart office layouts, preferred residential apartments and stylish leisure, dining and retail ecosystems blend seamlessly to provide a highly desirable live-work environment. The bespoke office complex, conveniently situated at the entrance of DIFC, is home to more than 90 companies and is one of the largest in DIFC, with a total of 855,682 sq. ft. of office space.