Key Practice Areas

Baker & McKenzie has 12 key practice areas.  During your training contract, you will sit in four of these departments.  Find out more about our seat rotation policy.

Banking

The Banking department advises both banks and borrowers on the debt finance aspects of business acquisitions, large-scale project and asset investments and corporate financings and restructurings. The majority of the work in the department is transactional, involving ongoing projects which typically last several months. These projects usually have a cross-border element for which the London office acts as lead counsel, coordinating lawyers in several jurisdictions. The team also works on more discrete matters, dealing with specific English law related issues.

Corporate

The Corporate department provides a full range of transactional and regulatory advice to multinational corporates, investment banks and private equity houses. The work in the department includes public and private mergers and acquisitions, private equity, joint ventures, capital markets/securities offerings, corporate reorganisations, financial services regulation, major projects in the energy, mining and infrastructure sectors, environmental markets and restructuring and insolvency.

dispute resolution

The Dispute Resolution department carries out a broad range of dispute resolution work involving mediation, Alternative Dispute Resolution, litigation and international arbitration. The department has specialist sub-groups dealing with public law, fraud and business crime, trust disputes, banking and finance disputes and international arbitration. Lawyers in the department also act for clients in disputes involving projects and construction, product liability, international trade, competition, IT and telecoms and insurance and reinsurance matters.

EU, Competition & Trade

The European Union, Competition and Trade department acts for an extremely diverse range of clients and carries out a mix of transactional, advisory and contentious work on the application of EU/UK competition law as well as in relation to trade, bribery and corruption issues.

Employment

The Employment department advises a wide range of clients on all areas of contentious and non-contentious employment law, including discrimination, redundancy and collective consultation, business transfers and outsourcing arrangements, senior executive terminations, disciplinary / grievance matters and negotiating severance agreements. The department has considerable expertise in coordinating multi-jurisdictional employment advice and advising on cross border matters. The Employee Benefits group is a part of the Employment department which advises employers on issues including employee share plans and all aspects of executive remuneration.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

The IP department advises on all aspects of IP rights including trade marks, copyright, patents and design rights - both contentious and non-contentious. The department has a strong anti-counterfeiting capability assisting clients to strategically address counterfeit or piracy issues. Within the department there is a dedicated team (the Trade Marks Unit) which is responsible for registration and portfolio management of trade marks and designs, and assists clients with global branding programmes. The department also has significant expertise in copyright and digital media.

IT & Commercial

The IT/Commercial department acts for clients on a broad range of contractual and regulatory issues. The department specialises in Commercial, IT (including IT disputes), Outsourcing, Privacy and Media; assisting clients in drafting and negotiating agreements and advising on issues relating to outsourcing arrangements, privacy and data protection.The department also adviseson e-commerce and media issues for a variety of clients and acts on contentious matters in relation to litigation over IT or outsourcing contracts.

PENSIONS

The Pensions department advises employers, trustees and scheme administrators in relation to issues arising out of the establishment, operation and closing of pension schemes. The law in this area changes frequently and as a result, the department will often provide advice on how such changes will affect clients in practice.

Real Estate

A significant part of the work of the Real Estate department is representing multi-national corporate occupiers with their real estate needs, whether as tenants or land owners. The work of the department is predominantly transactional in nature and includes acquisitions and disposals of investment properties for UK and overseas investors. This investment focus dovetails neatly with the property finance work undertaken for investment funds and overseas banks.  Increasingly, development projects and work in the hotel and leisure sectors form an important component of the department's work.

Structured Capital Markets

The Structured Capital Markets department specialises in a broad range of structured financings, encompassing securitisation, debt capital markets and derivatives. The department advises clients on a range of transactions, including securitisations involving a number of different types of asset class, bond issues and hedging activities. The group acts for a variety of clients including investment banks, large corporations and rating agencies.

Tax

The Corporate Tax department provides tax advisory and transactional services to UK and multinational corporate clients. The practice advises multinational firms on their UK and international tax issues, with a particular focus on corporation tax, transfer pricing, VAT and stamp duty issues. The department also provides support to the Corporate, Banking and Finance, Real Estate and Wealth Management departments, advising on the tax aspects of their transactions.

Wealth Management

The Wealth Management department provides international tax, structuring and strategic advice to ultra-high net worth entrepreneurs, financial institutions, trust companies and other fiduciaries in relation to multi-jurisdictional business and private assets with particular emphasis on clients from the Emerging Markets. Much of the work tends to be legally technical, often involving consideration of both primary and secondary legislation and case law.