Baker & McKenzie has named Ashok Lalwani as head of its Global India Practice, replacing the outgoing David Jacobs.

Lalwani, who joined Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow as a partner in 2002, will lead a practice that includes more than 300 lawyers worldwide. He has more than 23 years of experience advising financial institutions and corporates on international securities, mergers and acquisitions, as well as general corporate law. Lalwani is also head of the firm’s Asia-Pacific and U.S. Securities practices.

“Ashok’s entrenched relationships with many of the Indian conglomerates and his strong cross border transactional experience makes him a natural fit for this position,” said Eduardo Leite, chairman of Baker & McKenzie’s executive committee.

Recent India-related transactions acted on by Baker & McKenzie include Abbott Laboratories’ $3.8 billion acquisition of Piramal Healthcare; Hospira and its subsidiary’s $200 million acquisition of Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceutical’s API manufacturing facility; the State Bank of India’s $500 million loan facility to the Indian Railway Finance Corporation; and Coal India’s acquisition of a coal mine in Indonesia.

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