Leading global law firm Baker McKenzie announced that International Trade, Compliance and Investigations partner Sunny Mann has been elected as the firm’s new Global Chair, succeeding Milton Cheng. Mann will start on his four-year term in October.
Mann is based in London and is the global chair of our market-leading International Trade Practice Group. Along with London, he has also worked in the firm’s Washington DC, New York, Sydney and Hong Kong offices.
Sunny advises clients on compliance and investigations with respect to trade, sanctions, export controls and anti-bribery rules. And he also chairs Baker McKenzie’s Geopolitical Risks Taskforce and oversaw the firm’s support to clients responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The team was at the forefront of the market, advising a large percentage of the world’s largest companies on geopolitical disruption, including responses to the Russian invasion and the ongoing trade and tariff wars.
Mann is also a Visiting Professor at King’s College, London (teaching sanctions on the LLM course) and was for 15 years a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe, the leading institute for post-graduate European studies, where he taught an LLM course on Corporate Compliance.
Mann will sit on the firm’s Global Management Committee, which, effective July 1, 2025, will also include regional Chief Executives Alex Chadwick (EMEA), Colin Murray (Americas) and Steven Sieker (Asia Pacific), and partners Scott Brandman (New York), Amar Budarapu (Dallas), Pamela Church (New York), Matthew Dening (Riyadh), Andre Gan (Kuala Lumpur), Karen Guch (London), Isabella Liu (Hong Kong) and Christian Vocke (Frankfurt).
Milton has guided Baker McKenzie through a period of sustained revenue growth, the hiring of numerous high-profile laterals, and significant innovation, while focusing his efforts on deepening client relationships worldwide and upholding the firm’s values. During his tenure, Baker McKenzie’s global annual revenue passed the $3 billion mark for the first time in 2021. And the firm has continued on a steady growth path since then.
KEY QUOTES:
“It is an immense privilege to have been elected by my fellow partners to the role of Global Chair in our great Firm. Over its 75 years’ history, our Firm made its name supporting clients to navigate cross-border complexity. 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.”
“I am grateful to Milton, our current Chair, and the outgoing leadership team for their years of dedicated service. I very much look forward to working alongside the incoming Global Management Committee. Above all, I am excited to collaborate with my 13,000+ brilliant colleagues across over 70 offices globally; and it is this collective, pan-global strength that gives me great optimism for our future.”
“On a personal note, this is a particularly special moment for me as Baker McKenzie has developed me both as a lawyer and as a person since I joined back in 2000. Over my 25 years of service here, I have been privileged to work in 5 offices across 4 continents, to support the largest clients on best-in-class cross-border work, and to lead teams of talented lawyers and professionals across the globe. Baker McKenzie has given me so much, and it is an honour to be able repay this great Firm through serving as its Global Chair. The next few years are going to be exciting for us, and full of opportunity: I can’t wait to get to work.”
Sunny Mann, Firm Chair-Elect
“I am extremely proud of what we have achieved for our clients and our people in the past six years. I am excited for the years to come and have no doubt Sunny will take Baker McKenzie to even greater heights, leveraging an impeccable track-record in building and leading a successful practice while championing our core values. I look forward to working closely with Sunny in the next few months to ensure a seamless transition.”
Milton Cheng, Firm Chair
