Baker & McKenzie

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Overview

Baker & McKenzie has worked hard to shed that old 'McLawFirm' tag - which many market observers would now say is rather unfair. In London, for instance, the firm has made significant strides, while Bakers' global reach is still second to none.

But old habits die hard and one contributor evidently still believes clients are still likely to be asked whether they want fries with that IP advice.

"A bit of a McLaw reputation," the contributor suggests. "Big, but reputation is nothing like the top global firms."

Such claims are a legacy of the US-based law firm's global expansion strategy, which initially operated as a kind of 'franchise' model. This system enabled Bakers to establish a network around the world much more rapidly than more integrated rivals (it now has more than 700 partners and 3,400 lawyers worldwide) and provided local offices with a large degree of autonomy; however, it did nothing for the firm's cohesiveness or to maintain an even level of quality around the world. As such, in many jurisdictions, the firm remains distinctly mid-market.

Since the beginning of the decade, however, successive management teams have sought to create a whole equal to, if not greater than, the sum of its parts by creating a global partnership and various other initiatives to make its disparate teams work together more efficiently and drag the firm up the value chain. Although not all of Bakers' legacy issues have been resolved, measured by partner profits, they have enjoyed considerable success.

In the three years to 2007, profits per partner rocketed by 63% - from £322,000 to £523,000 - and the firm's management hopes they will grow to £723,000 ($1.5m) by 2010. The 300-strong London practice has long been one of Bakers' strongest and largest outposts (and, indeed, enjoys a better market profile than its US network). Its performance in the same time frame has been even more impressive, with its 84 partners averaging profits in 2007 of more than £600,000.

How much this will change with the firm's new emphasis on developing its New York practice, historically a weak spot of the firm but now home to more than 150 lawyers since Bakers' acquisition of the bulk of the dissolving Couderts New York office in 2005, remains to be seen. But London is likely to remain the jewel in the crown of the Bakers legal empire for a considerable time to come.

See Global 100: Man of the world for The American Lawyer's take on Bakers' progress.

In common with many firms, the tougher markets of 2008 and 2009 have taken their toll with Bakers making job cuts both globally and in London. The hope will be that a global recovery lifts this most global of law firms.

History

From its foundation in Chicago in 1949, the pioneering Bakers bought into globalisation early, building a network of offices that spanned the globe. It opened its first overseas office, in Venezuela, in 1955, then Brussels in 1957 and London in 1961. The European network was largely in place by the end of the 1960s.

The franchise model used by Bakers may have enabled it to grow rapidly, but that growth was also pretty uneven and the firm's management have spent the best part of the past decade trying to ensure that the various parts of the network can provide a consistent quality of service. Always under-strength in New York, Bakers acquired the rump of the dissolving Couderts office in the Big Apple in 2005.

However, highly-rated chair Christine Lagarde was widely regarded as having considerable success at bolstering firmwide standards and integration before she handed over to US partner John Conroy (pictured right) in 2004. Conroy was re-elected to a second term in 2007, putting him in the hotseat as the firm deals with the global recession that took hold in late 2008. In common with many firms, Bakers has responded with job cuts, both firmwide and at its London office. Financial results recently announced show that profits per partner fell 17% firmwide in 2008-09. Profits were down more sharply in London, falling 33.5% from £572,000 to £380,000, while UK revenue fell by 3.4% to £115.7m.

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Culture

Little offends Bakers lawyers more than describing their firm as 'American' and the combination of a historically loose network and the UK office's position as the network's top dog means the culture at Baker & McKenzie is more akin to that of a mid-sized City firm than a US practice. Insiders describe the internal culture as reasonably friendly and unstuffy, while the firm's efforts to improve partners' people-management skills appear to be bearing fruit.

What Bakers can also credibly claim is to have done more than legal rival to forge a genuinely global sensibility, a contrast to most global firms, which are essentially managed from one dominant country.

The extent to which this will change due to the management's ongoing attempts to get the firm's international outposts to work more closely together by rotating partners through the different offices of firm is, however, as yet unknown.

Key departments

London is home to a collection of high-performing practices, both with a UK and international focus. The pensions and employment team has long enjoyed a stellar reputation in London, as have the firm's telecoms, IP and projects departments, while the competition and public law team has enjoyed a growing reputation in recent years. More recently, Bakers in London has really started to make waves in structured finance following the capture of a team of finance lawyers from Norton Rose in 2005 and has been become increasingly successful in cross-selling its corporate capabilities to clients of other departments.

National/international coverage

With 70 offices in 38 legal jurisdictions, Bakers truly is the legal network on which the sun never sets. Bakers has more offices in more countries than any other firm and, unusually, has significant coverage of Latin America as well as in the more traditional jurisdictions favoured by international firms - Asia (with Bakers particularly strong in Hong Kong) and Europe.

The long-standing issue for Bakers is to make its network as deep as it is wide. It remains mid-market in too many key jurisdictions (such as Germany) and, in particular, needs to improve its position in its 'home' market, the US, which has been accounting for a shrinking share of global revenue for some time now.

Key clients

Bakers has an impressive client list in London, although not all use all parts of the firm. The IP team boasts Unilever (which outsourced its trademark work to the firm) and L'Oreal and the telecoms group acts for major companies including Sony, Cisco and Hewlett-Packard. The employment team represents British Airways, Accenture and Prudential while the competition and public law team includes the BBC among its client roster.

The firm has been working hard to deepen its relationships with clients and there is some evidence that this approach is working, with key IP client Nike appointing Bakers for its bid to buy rival kit-maker Umbro 2007 and L'Oreal appointing the firm on its £652m takeover of The Body Shop.

Leading partners

Include:

• Tim Gee, corporate
• Paul Stibbard, private banking
• Christine O'Brien, employment
• Harry Small, IT/IP
• Peter Strivens, telecoms
• Michael Hart, dispute resolution
• Jonathan Walsh, securitisation
• Mike Webster, projects
• Bernard Sharp, finance
• Simon Hughes, private equity

Career prospects

The recent success of the London office produced a bumper crop of five new partners in 2007, although assistants and associates at Bakers do not seem much more optimistic about their partnership prospects than those at most other firms. Recent growth in partner profits have been achieved in part through cautious extension of the equity and there are some complaints that career communication could be better.

There was less promising news for aspiring lawyers in 2009 when the firm made up just one partner in London.

Salaries

With salaries ranging from £63,500 for newly-qualifieds through to £85,000 for 3PQEs, Bakers keeps pace with the leading City firms but remains a way off some of the leading Wall Street firms. The firm's bonus scheme, which is mostly based on firm-wide profitability, paid 5% in 2007.

Work-life balance

Billable target of 1,500 hours is average for the City. However, most inmates report that the hours are pretty civilised, even by UK standards - let alone US.

Diversity

Bakers certainly talks a good game on diversity, as you can see from this piece by partner Russell Lewin. It has appointed a diversity committee and focus groups and is one of 12 law firms on the 'diversity champions' programme run by gay rights pressure group Stonewall.

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