Global law firm Baker & McKenzie recently announced the election of 16 new partners from the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, out of a combined 85 new partners elected this year.

This latest investment in the firm's expertise grows the total number of partners worldwide to 1,580, with over 400 women, the most of any law firm, a press release said.

In the UAE, dispute resolution counsel Mohammad Al Shraideh has been promoted to the partnership. Admitted in Jordan, he has over 16 years of experience in civil and commercial litigation in the Middle East, with a particular focus on the banking, real estate and construction sectors.  

His appointment comes on top of the hires of partners Charlotte Bijlani (dispute resolution) and Omar Momany (corporate/dispute resolution) from other international law firms in the UAE to Baker & McKenzie Habib Al Mulla's UAE practice in the last 12 months. This will bring the total number of partners based in the UAE to 16.

Across the firm's practice groups globally, tax saw the largest intake of new partners with banking and finance, dispute resolution and mergers and acquisitions significantly bolstering their ranks, the press release added.

This year, Baker & McKenzie also added 65 lateral hires, which bolstered the firm’s client service capabilities in key practice areas such as mergers and acquisitions, dispute resolution, banking and finance and tax. A third of the lateral hires are women. Combining this year's promotions and new lateral talent, the firm added 151 partners.

Eduardo Leite, chairman of Baker & McKenzie, said: “Our promotions demonstrate our broad diversity of talent across numerous countries and practice groups. I am particularly proud that we continue to promote a high number of women. Few professional services firms, especially one as large as ours, can say that they consistently promote a partner class of nearly half women as we have done again this year. However, although much has been done, we have more to do." –TradeArabia News Service