The renowned German legal publishing house JUVE named Baker McKenzie "Law Firm of the Year 2021 for Compliance", "Law Firm of the Year 2021 for Healthcare" and "Law Firm of the Year 2021 for Procurement Law". The prestigious awards were announced at this year's JUVE Awards ceremony on October 28, 2021.
The jury's reasoning for the award as "Law Firm of the Year 2021 for Compliance" inter alia notes: "Once again, Baker McKenzie recognized the signs of the times. The practice did true pioneering work in advising on human rights and sustainability in international supply chains - a topic that has recently been concerning more and more clients." JUVE singles out Baker McKenzie partner Anahita Thoms for special praise: "Here, at the interface with foreign trade law, it proved to be the right move to have brought Anahita Thoms into the team four years ago."
Dr. Nicolai Behr, Co-Head of Baker McKenzie's German Compliance Practice:
"The 'Law Firm of the Year for Compliance' award is a validation of our cross-functional collaboration within the firm, our focus on forward-looking issues, and our use of in-house developed solutions for data analytics and process automation."
Anahita Thoms, Global Sustainability Lead Partner of the IMT Industry Group and EMEA Steering Committee Member of the Compliance & Investigations Group:
"This award is a great motivation. We will continue to expand our ESG practice and help our clients identify and address human rights and environmental risks along their supply chain."
The laudation for the award as "Law Firm of the Year 2021 for Healthcare" states that "clients have virtually showered BM's healthcare practice with praise" and that the team understands how to combine its "regulatory expertise at the highest level with excellent M&A expertise."
Dr. Thilo Räpple, Head of Baker McKenzie's German Pharma Practice Group:
"We are extremely pleased to receive this award, it has been an intense and challenging year in which we were able to support many pharma, biotech and medtech companies in tackling big tasks and problems."
The laudation for the award as "Law Firm of the Year 2021 for Procurement Law" states: "The Practice Group accompanies her clients unerringly and silently through the most important tenders of the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, Baker McKenzie demonstrates that it successfully applied its deep expertise on supply security in pharmaceutical contracts to the supply and procurement situation within the crisis situation."
Prof. Dr. Marc Gabriel, Head of Baker McKenzie's Public Procurement Law Practice:
"Our procurement law team was able to assist numerous clients with important tenders or applications for COVID-19 aid, among other things. We are therefore particularly pleased to receive this well-deserved award."
Due to the current COVID-19 regulations of the state of Hesse, the award gala ceremony took place as a hybrid event - as a "2G plus" this year at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt am Main and online via livestream. Journalist and TV presenter Kay-Sölve Richter led through the evening as host.