International trade partner Pablo Bentes has joined Mayer Brown in Brussels from Baker McKenzie.
Bentes, who is joining with two team members, led the firm's global international economic disputes resolution practice and was based in Geneva.
Bentes has more than 20 years’ experience representing sovereign states, governments, corporates and trade associations in negotiations, investigations and disputes.
He has represented sovereign states at every stage of World Trade Organisation (WTO) and Free Trade Agreement proceedings, including as lead counsel in oral pleadings before WTO panels, the Appellate Body and FTA arbitral tribunals.
He joins Mayer Brown at a time of trade volatility, especially between major trading blocs, strengthening the firm’s sovereign-state capability as states and businesses address intensifying geopolitical and economic tensions.
Nikolay Mizulin, the firm’s co-leader of international trade, said: “Pablo’s sovereign-state practice, combined with Mayer Brown’s disputes platform, strengthens our ability to help clients navigate high-stakes conflicts between states.
“His experience complements our work in trade disputes, trade remedies, national security and investor-state arbitration."
Bentes said the firm was "a natural home for my practice” whose “reach and client relationships will help me build on my work for governments and businesses as demand for practical solutions to complex trade conflicts grows".
Jean-Philippe Montfort, the firm’s Brussels managing partner, said: “Pablo is a market leader in trade litigation and is deeply connected to the governments and institutions at the centre of today's most significant trade disputes.”
Before joining Bakers, Bentes was managing director of Steptoe’s trade team in Washington DC, having previously been a senior appellate lawyer at the WTO.
Bentes' hire follows Mayer Brown’s addition of Thea Kendler and Aiysha Hussain as partners in Washington DC, in April 2025. Both joined from the US Department of Commerce, where they had held senior trade roles.
Bakers, meanwhile, added former Deputy Assistant US Trade Representative Nathaniel Halvorson as an international trade partner in Washington DC, in April this year.
A spokesperson for the firm confirmed the exit, saying “We thank Pablo for his contributions made to Baker McKenzie over the past years and wish him all the best for the future.”
Earlier this month, Mayer Brown hired a three-partner leveraged finance team in London from Bakers, as it continued to build its City finance bench.
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