Milton Cheng, the managing partner of Baker McKenzie’s Hong Kong office has been elected as the next chair of the firm, the first lawyer from Asia to take on the role in the firm’s history.

The 53-year-old Cheng, a Singaporean, will begin his four-year tenure on Oct. 17. He succeeds Jaime Trujillo, who has been acting global chair since October 2018. Trujillo stepped into the role on an interim basis following the untimely death of the firm’s previous chair, Paul Rawlinson, last year.

Besides being the Hong Kong managing partner, Cheng also oversees Baker McKenzie’s offices and businesses across eight countries in the Asia-Pacific region. He has been with the firm since joining it in 1990 and became a partner in 1999.

Cheng specialises in M&A, REITs, financial services regulation, corporate finance and corporate restructurings. 

The 13,000-lawyer Baker McKenzie, which has 78 offices across 47 countries, posted $2.92 billion of revenue for the fiscal year ended June 30. The firm’s Asian presence spans 17 offices and accounts for more than a quarter of its overall revenue.

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