Where do veteran law firm leaders go after a stint at the top? Another stint near the top in the case of Gary Senior, the veteran former London managing of Baker & McKenzie, who recently handed over to Paul Rawlinson.
The 4,000-lawyer firm announced today (28 October) that Senior had been elected to serve on Baker’s global executive committee, taking the place of fellow London-based partner Beatriz Araujo, whose term on the body has ended.
The committee is Baker’s primary leadership team, responsible for developing and implementing global business strategy and managing the day-to-day business of the firm. Current members of the committee include Sydney-based Bruce Hambrett, Jim Holloway in Toronto, Chicago-based Phil Suse, Koen Vanhaerents in Brussels and Winston Zee in Hong Kong.
Eduardo Leite, chairman of Baker’s executive committee, said: ‘Our deepest gratitude goes to Beatriz for her service to the firm and commitment to championing our client-driven strategy. Congratulations to Gary on his new role. His experience, insight and passion will prove invaluable as we strive to be our clients’ most trusted global advisers.’
The popular Senior has extensive experience within the firm, having joined as a trainee in 1984 and becoming a corporate partner in 1992. He has also spent time working in Baker’s Chicago arm. Between 2003 and 2013, Senior served as managing partner of the firm’s largest office, London, which generated revenues of £126.8m in its 2011/12 year. The US-bred giant has made raising the profile of its 400-lawyer City arm one of its key strategic priorities as it continues its long haul attempt to turn what was regarded as a franchise operation into slickly integrated professional services giant.
At the same time of Senior’s replacement, the firm announced a shake-up of its London management committee with corporate partner Helen Bradley and employment partner Monica Kurnatowska joining the body, replacing Senior and Peter Strivens.
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