Leading global law firm Baker McKenzie welcomes two new members to its Executive Committee, Shih Yann Loo and Melinda Phelan, while Ai Ai Wong and Duane Webber have concluded their terms.

Current Executive Committee members include Michael Santa Maria, Esteban Raventos and Michael Wong, who have been appointed as Regional Chairs for North America, EMEA and Asia Pacific respectively, Jaime Trujillo and Constanze Ulmer-Eilfort.

Shih Yann Loo is a partner based in Hong Kong and formerly led the Intellectual Property group in cross-border litigation and enforcement in Hong Kong and China. Shih Yann is also part of the management team that established and leads the Firm’s first to market Baker McKenzie FenXun Joint Operation platform.

Melinda Phelan is the immediate past chair of the Firm’s North America Tax Practice and is a partner based in Dallas, Texas. With more than 25 years of international tax experience, Melinda advises multinational companies on sophisticated international tax planning and transfer pricing matters.

Michael (Mike) Santa Maria has a broad-based corporate transactional practice with an emphasis in international cross-border transactions. He routinely handles complex cross-border business transactions and corporate matters ranging from mergers and acquisitions, direct investment, joint ventures, and international franchise and distribution matters. Mike joined the Executive Committee in 2018.

Esteban Raventos is the former chair of the Wealth Management Group in EMEA and, from 2010 to 2013, was the managing partner of our Barcelona office. Esteban joined the Executive Committee in 2018. He has practiced law in the US and Spain, and has more than 25 years of experience in tax planning and transactions as well as wealth management.

Michael Wong practices in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, as well as corporate law. He handles cross-border commercial transactions and joint ventures, and specializes in international tax planning for acquisitions and post-transaction integration. Michael joined the Executive Committee in 2018.

Commenting on these announcements, Baker McKenzie’s Global Chair Milton Cheng said, “I am delighted to welcome Melinda and Shih Yann to our Executive Committee and Michael, Esteban and Mike to their new roles as Regional Chairs. We have had plenty to be proud of this year – advising on industry-leading deals, a great group of new lateral hires, the continued success of our market- leading innovation initiative, and our long-term strategic investments in our clients, our technology and our people. I look forward to the contributions of our new leaders in continuing to drive our success and global strategy moving forward.

“My sincere thanks to Ai Ai Wong and Duane Webber for their exceptional leadership and service, as well as all their contributions to our Executive Committee, supporting the needs of our clients and our people around the globe.”