Hong Kong, July 9, 2007 – Baker & McKenzie is pleased to announce the election of 23 new Partners and the recruitment of 12 Lateral Partners to its member firms in Asia Pacific in the last twelve months. This brings the total number of partners in the Region to 310, and reinforces Baker & McKenzie’s position as the dominant law firm within the Asia Pacific, a view recently endorsed in a regional law firm survey conducted by the legal publication AsiaLaw.

Significant lateral recruits include pioneering international partner Fumio Koma and Shinichiro Abe together with a team of lawyers from Asahi Koma Law Offices and Markus Janssen from the Janssen Foreign Law Office (a qualified joint enterprise of Asahi Koma Law Offices) in Japan.

“At a time when the legal industry openly acknowledges that there is a ‘war for talent’, our Partner appointments demonstrate the Firm’s deep commitment to invest in high quality senior level lawyers, to respond to our clients with their local, regional and global legal needs,” says David Jacobs, Chairman of the Asia Pacific region.

“With a very high concentration of locally qualified, internationally experienced lawyers, we are well resourced to offer our clients dedicated solutions that combine global best practices with local law expertise enabling the Firm to reinforce its position as counsel of choice to leading global and local clients operating throughout the Asia Pacific.”