Baker McKenzie, the largest global law firm to establish operations in one of Florida’s fastest growing markets, is pleased to announce the official opening of its Tampa Center, a state-of-the-art workspace supporting the firm’s offices and clients globally. The new Center officially opened with a ribbon-cutting on Sept. 9, with local business and government leaders attending, including Mayor Jane Castor.

Located inside SunTrust Financial Centre, Baker McKenzie’s Tampa Center is a class A+ office space that offers a mix of alternative work spaces, individual work stations and collaborative work zones. The Tampa Center currently employs approximately 120 people in Legal Services, Finance, IT, Knowledge Management, Operations, Business Development, Marketing and Communications and Talent. The Center will eventually grow to 300 employees.

“Today represents a major milestone in our operations here in Tampa,” said Jamie Lawless, Executive Director of the Tampa Center. “This has been an incredible year building out our team and creating our innovative workspace, and we are pleased to celebrate our official opening with community and business leaders who have been supporters of our plans. This is a world-class office space for a world-class team.”

The establishment of the Center has been made possible through strong partnerships between Enterprise Florida, the Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corporation, City of Tampa, Hillsborough County, and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

“Our Tampa Center joins our other Centers in Manila, Belfast and Buenos Aires in providing follow-the-sun support to our 76 offices around the world,” said Jason Marty, Baker McKenzie’s Chief Operating Officer. “These centers of excellence are enabling us to deliver on our promise to clients to provide more creative, innovative, cost-efficient solutions that meet their business needs.”

Added Jaime Trujillo, Baker McKenzie’s Acting Global Chair, “Our clients are facing more competition and challenges, which demand faster, commercially sound responses, more competitive prices, better quality, continuous innovation and higher levels of legal and business knowledge. The Tampa Center, drawing on the outstanding talent pool Tampa offers, will help us continue to deliver precisely that. We are very excited for our future in this growing market.”

The Tampa Center opening highlights Baker McKenzie’s drive to be a more efficient, innovative organization, and a leading employer for professional and business services personnel to grow and enhance their careers.

Concluded Jamie Lawless: “We recognize that our Firm’s culture of friendship, collaboration and candor is partly dependent on our physical space, as it plays a big role in how people feel when they come to work every day. We kept this in mind as we designed our Tampa Center office — creating a space that enables our “Love Where You Work” mission of the Center.”