Baker McKenzie Taps London Trade Lawyer Mann as Firmwide Chair

Partners at Baker McKenzie chose London-based international trade practice chair Sunny Mann to serve as the global verein’s next leader.

Mann in October will take over for Milton Cheng, who has led the firm since 2019, the firm said Monday. Mann advises companies on compliance and investigations regarding export controls, trade sanctions and anti-bribery rules, working from London, New York, and Washington DC.

“It is an immense privilege to have been elected by my fellow partners to the role of global chair in our great firm,” Mann said in a statement. “Given the levels of change and market disruption we are now witnessing around the world, I am confident that with our unparalleled international reach, there is no firm better placed to support clients navigate the complex and turbulent demands of our current global climate.”

Baker McKenzie is among the the world’s largest law firms, reporting nearly $3.4 billion in gross revenue last year, according to the American Lawyer. It employs more than 4,500 lawyers through the verien model, which generally is a loose affiliation of global offices that often keeps profits in separate regional pools.

Mann, who has worked at the firm for more than two decades, is set to serve a four-year term at the helm. He was part of a Baker McKenzie team that advised Danish brewer Carlsberg in its 2023 sale of Russian beermaker Baltika, according to the firm.

He replaces Cheng, the Hong Kong M&A partner who oversaw the firm as it surpassed $3 billion in revenue for the first time in its history in 2021.

“I am extremely proud of what we have achieved for our clients and our people in the past six years,” Cheng said in Monday’s prepared statement. “I look forward to working closely with Sunny in the next few months to ensure a seamless transition.”

A representative of Baker McKenzie declined to provide further comment about Mann’s election.