Founders:
Russell Baker
John McKenzie

Industry: Legal Practice

History:

Formed in Chicago in 1949, Baker & McKenzie was one of the first legal practice firms to go global. At present, it has over 70 offices all over the world and over 80% of its lawyers are outside the US.

The firm is the second biggest worldwide based on number of practicing attorneys. The firm originated from Russell Baker’s practices in 1925 after he graduated from the School of Law of the University of Chicago. He was born in Wisconsin but was raised in New Mexico in a multi-cultural community.

Baker & Simpson, Baker’s early firm, offered legal services to the Mexican American community in Chicago. Eventually, the firm started to serve US companies that did business in Latin America. As the company Abbott Laboratories expanded overseas in 1934, it became the firm’s chief client.
In 1949 firm relaunched with experienced litigator John McKenzie.

This proved fortuitous as, during the 1950s, Baker & McKenzie’s client base increased.

Baker & McKenzie fully became an international legal practice firm when a lawyer from Venezuela offered them a joint office in Caracas. This was followed shortly by additional joint venture offices in New York, Washington D.C., Zurich, Brussels and Sao Paulo. By 1978, the firm already had 26 offices serving different clients in 20 countries.

In 1999, Baker & McKenzie had its 50th anniversary. Two years after that, the firm’s list of attorneys reached 3,000 and its revenues exceeded $1 billion.

In July 2004, the company adopted an establishment in Switzerland. They further expanded a year later when the international law firm Coudert Brothers merged with them.

The firm has been named one of the Top 100 Law Firms in Diversity by the MultiCultural Law Magazine.

Leadership:

John Conroy, Chairman of the Executive Committee