Nearly 40 per cent or 31 of the new promotions are women. Across the firm's practice groups globally dispute resolution saw the largest intake of new partners with tax and mergers & acquisitions significantly bolstering their ranks. Promotions are effective from the 1^st of July. During the 2017 financial year Baker McKenzie added 59 lateral hires, a third of which are women. Combining this year's promotions and new lateral talent, the firm has added 139 partners to its ranks.

'Good proportion of women'

Paul Rawlinson, Global Chair of Baker McKenzie, said: ‘I am delighted to welcome all these great individuals to the partnership. As always, I am pleased that we have a good proportion of women joining the partnership which is reflective of our focus on diversity and inclusion activities across the firm. We have also had a very successful year in attracting new lateral partners to the firm who joined Baker McKenzie because they saw a truly innovative and integrated organization with a clear vision and purpose as well as its own unique culture.’

London promotions

The promotions include five in London: Susie Davies (corporate), Kim Sartin (employment), Jennifer Revis (international commerce & trade), Mark Simpson (financial services) and Ben Farnell (real estate). The total number of partners based in London now stands at 100. This includes the recent strategic high-profile hires comprising: Steve Labrum who joined the tax practice from KPMG; Will Holder and Carl Richards who joined the M&A/private equity and employment practices respectively from King & Wood Mallesons; David Duncan and Melanie Howard who joined as M&A partners from Allen & Overy and Clifford Chance respectively and Alex Lewis who joined the private equity practice from Ropes & Gray.