Baker McKenzie has hired former Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance as a partner and global chair of its global cybersecurity practice. 

Vance joins the firm after leading the Manhattan district attorney’s office for 12 years, where he became well-known for leading high-profile investigations into public figures including former president Donald Trump and disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein. 

Bakers said Vance will lead its cybersecurity practice and join its North American litigation and government enforcement practice and its global compliance and investigations team. 

As district attorney, Vance established a cyber crimes unit that handled thousands of forensic interrogations of devices per year and co-founded New York City’s cyber critical infrastructure task force, the only public–private partnership in the US to address risk and prevent cyber attacks on New York's critical infrastructure.  

Scott Brandman, managing partner of Bakers' New York and Miami offices, said: “We are focused on continuing to grow our capabilities in New York, particularly in the transactional and cybersecurity space, and adding a prosecutor of Cy's stature is a huge addition to our team.”

Vance said he was “excited about the opportunities to provide business-focused guidance and advice to clients navigating major compliance risks”. 

He began his criminal investigation of Trump’s family business in 2018 and successfully obtained eight years of the former president’s tax returns, defeated two of his appeals in the US Supreme Court and indicted Trump’s company, the Trump Organisation, and its longtime chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg in connection to tax avoidance schemes. 

The unfinished probe was passed across to his successor, Alvin Bragg, when Vance completed his third and final term in office at the end of last month. 

Vance’s appointment comes a month after the firm hired former UK information commissioner and veteran data protection specialist Elizabeth Denham as a consultant in London. Denham’s appointment drew criticism from campaign groups, which questioned the nature and speed of her move into private practice after stepping down from her public role, concerns Bakers deemed ‘valid’ and ‘understandable’ at the time. 

The firm topped Thomson Reuters’ Global Elite Law Firm Brand Index for the 12th consecutive year last week, surpassing second placed DLA Piper by more than 56 index points and underscoring the strong brand recognition it has among buyers of legal services