San Diego, CA, June 25, 2004 – LAWFUEL – Baker & McKenzie is pleased to announce that Maria Sendra has joined the Firm’s San Diego office as a Partner in its regional and global Corporate & Securities practice groups. Sendra joins from Clifford Chance.
Sendra brings 13 years of legal experience to Baker & McKenzie, and will lead the Firm’s Corporate & Securities group in Southern California. She will continue to focus her work on mergers and acquisitions, securities, initial public offerings, and corporate financings for a client base that includes U.S. multinational corporations, venture capital funds and venture-backed emerging growth companies.
Sendra was previously a partner at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison and joined Clifford Chance in 2002 to help open its San Diego office. Sendra spearheaded the California technology and China initiative while at Clifford Chance. She received her B.A. from Yale University in 1983, her M.A. from Indiana University in 1988, and her J.D. from Boalt Hall School of Law in 1991.
“We are thrilled to welcome Maria’s talents to our existing Corporate & Securities team to grow our practice in Southern California,” said John Conroy, Baker & McKenzie’s North American Managing Partner. “California with its established and growing international business is a natural strategic market for Baker & McKenzie given the global resources of our Firm. We are committed to the growth of our West Coast practices, and our Corporate & Securities practice in particular, with the addition of talent of Maria’s caliber.”
In 2003, Baker & McKenzie successfully recruited 11 lawyers to its San Francisco office. Partner Shane Byrne and a team of six lawyers from Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison joined its Corporate & Securities practice in San Francisco, as did Partner John Anzur from Gray Cary Ware & Friedenrich. Also from Brobeck, Partner Gary Shapiro and associate Stuart Pixley joined the Firm’s IT/C Practice Group and Partner Michael Penner joined the Banking & Finance practice group.
Baker & McKenzie was selected as one of the top ten corporate law firms in America this June for the fourth consecutive year, according to a survey of more than 2,000 directors of publicly traded companies given by Corporate Board Member magazine.