Baker & McKenzie elects new global Chairman 

Leading global law firm Baker & McKenzie announced that following a vote of its partnership,  Paul Rawlinson has been elected as the next Chairman of the Firm.

Paul is an accomplished intellectual property(IP) lawyer and a relationship partner for a number of the firm’s significant global clients. He has been the Firm’s Managing Partner in London since 2013. He joined Baker & McKenzie in 1986 and made partner in 1996. He currently serves on the Firm’s Policy Committee and also led the Firm’s Global Intellectual Property practice group from 2004 to 2010. He will be the first British Chairman of the Firm.

Paul Rawlinson, Chairman-elect of Baker & McKenzie says, “I am delighted and humbled by the trust my fellow partners have placed in me. I look forward to building on the great work of Eduardo and his predecessors to continue to reinforce Baker & McKenzie’s position as the premier global law firm.”

Paul will take up the position on October 23, at the end of the Firm’s Annual Meeting in Barcelona, Spain. He will succeed Eduardo Leite, who has been Chairman of Baker & McKenzie since 2010. Until his successor is announced in September Paul will remain the Managing Partner in London.

Eduardo Leite, Chairman of Baker & McKenzie says, “We had a group of outstanding candidates for our next Chairman and the partners had an exceptionally difficult decision to make. In choosing Paul we have someone who can take this great Firm to the next level. I offer him my sincerest congratulations.”

Paul has also been instrumental in developing innovative client-focused initiatives at Baker & McKenzie, including helping establish the Firm’s Global Services Centers in Belfast and Manila. Baker & McKenzie pioneered the use of global service centers to drive efficiency and  innovation for clients when it opened its first center in Manila. It was the first global law firm to introduce such an operation.

He has vast experience working on intellectual property issues for many of the Firm’s major clients for whom is also a global relationship partner. He advises a range of global clients with extensive IP portfolios on strategies for protection and enforcement of their IP rights.  Paul is a member of several business organizations, including the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, Business Alliance Against Counterfeiting and Anti-Piracy, French Trade Mark & Design Association, the International Trademark Association.

Source: Baker & McKenzie

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