Baker & McKenzie Largest Firm in Asia-Pacific Region

08/18/06

Baker & McKenzie largest firm in Asia-Pacific region

Baker & McKenzie has beefed up its Asia-Pacific operations in the past year and is now the largest law firm in the region in terms of partner count. With the addition of 35 new partners, the new strategic initiative is expected to strengthen the law firm's presence. It will also boost the firm's expertise in different practice areas, including tax, banking and finance, M&A, intellectual property, dispute resolution, capital markets, IT, and communication practice.

According to the firm's website, the law firm is growing throughout international locations, and especially in the Asia-Pacific region, where many international firms seem to be reducing their commitment. Baker & McKenzie has announced multiple promotions at the offices in Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Bangkok, with other promotions scattered throughout major cities of the area. The firm's Asia-Pacific presence now stands at 299 partners with 147 principal equity partners.

Kirton & McConkie in technology deal with Mimosa Systems
In search of the latest technological developments in communications, the Salt Lake City-based firm Kirton & McConkie has joined forces with Mimosa Systems to implement and launch Mimosa NearPoint software. With the importance of email's role in communicating both internal and with clients, keeping up with recent software developments is considered key. The new software will facilitate retrieval of old email, independent eDiscovery, and effective handling of staff's mailboxes. The implementation of technology will also allow staff auditors to access email information for litigation support and forensics.

Kirton & McConkie believe that this initiative will allow for speed and ease of complex searches across mailboxes, leading to cost savings. It will also enable the firm to offer effective services to its global clients. Kirton & McConkie emphasizes the need to effectively use legal assistants, staff, and technologies in helping to minimize costs to its clients, maintain good client communications, and respond in a timely manner to client needs. It is their hope that Mimosa Systems, Inc will facilitate this, with their specialty of offering the latest information management solutions for information immediacy, discovery, and continuity.

Kilpatrick Stockton rated top Atlanta law firm in survey
Kilpatrick Stockton has been recognized as the top Atlanta-based law firm, and is featured as no. 10 among the top 100 Amlaw firms, as rated by The American Lawyer. In the magazine's annual Midlevel Associates survey, the firm is ranked 23^rd in terms of workplace satisfaction. The survey included responses of law firm associates from 197 law firms domestically and internationally, and considered the firm's overall quality on the basis of that ranking. The firms were rated on the basis of benefits and compensation offered to staff, quality and quantity of work, morale, and associate and partner relations.

The firm, whose associates had a 60% participation rate, was also ranked high among other national law firms in 12 different categories. Kilpatrick Stockton employs more than 480 attorneys in nine offices across the globe, offering expertise in corporate, litigation, financial transactions, and intellectual property practice areas.

DLA Piper optimistic on pursuing mega-deals after robust growth
Following the restructuring of its corporate strategy, DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary has firmed up plans to act on deals of up to $ 3.39 billion, and will allocate smaller deals to its regional office across the globe. According to lawyer.com, the initiative is the fallout of an 82 percent rise in the average size of the deals, which increased drastically from $67.44 million to $125.39 million.

The operations at the law firm's London office will lead in the number of deals, as the firm is pushing towards upper mid-market work. It is noteworthy that the firm's corporate group operations in Europe, Middle East, and Asia registered a sharp revenue increase of 71.4 percent from $92.9 million to $159.2 million. With the increase in the volumes of the deal and anticipating a growth in market, DLA Piper is expecting the size of the deal to further increase from its present level.