Nearly 25 years after leaving Los Angeles, Baker McKenzie has returned to the market as part of a move to hire five lawyers from Hogan Lovells in California.

Commercial litigators Mark Goodman and Ethan Miller will work out of Baker McKenzie's Northern California offices in San Francisco and Palo Alto, while Hogan Lovells' former local head of employment Robin Samuel, litigator Barry Thompson and counsel Joe Ward will become the founding partners of Baker McKenzie's new Los Angeles office.

The new Southern California office, set to open later this month in Century City, will start off with about 12 to 15 lawyers, according to Colin Murray, Baker McKenzie's managing partner for North America.

Barbara Klementz, who was appointed as the firm's California managing partner last July, will be in charge of the new office, as part of the firm's global 2020 strategy.

“Even though we haven't been in Los Angeles for some time, we have lawyers who lived in the area, and a substantial number of very good clients in the market as well,” said Murray. “Our industry focus in many respects matches what is available in Los Angeles in terms of our client base.”

Michael Wagner, Baker McKenzie's North American chairman and global executive member, added that the firm focuses on six industry sectors—health care, entertainment, technology, real estate, industrial manufacturing, and defense—and the Southern California market is very strong “in several of those industries.”

Baker McKenzie's new hires bring with them an array of litigation experience. Samuel was an attorney at Hogan & Hartson before the Washington-based firm merged with London-based Lovells in 2010. He has significant experience handling employment class actions. Thompson, who joined Hogan Lovells in 2012, has represented pharmaceuticals and medical device companies in commercial disputes. Ward, who left Jones Day for Hogan Lovells in 2014, has represented a broad range of companies in litigation involving pharmaceuticals, tobacco, off-road vehicles, metering equipment, cosmetics, and other consumer products. Their move to Baker McKenzie was brokered by Avis Caravello of Avis Caravello Attorney Search Consultants.

Baker McKenzie is the second big law firm that has opened a new base in Century City this week, following Paul Hasting's recent lateral hires of four entertainment partners from Loeb & Loeb to establish an entertainment and media practice in Los Angeles.

Murray said Century City is a good midpoint for the firm's clients, as well as some of the attorneys who are already based in LA. He added the firm also saw increasing opportunities in the market, including more interest from Asian clients.

“Having a home base to service clients is tremendously helpful,” he said.

The California hires follow a string of lateral pickups at Baker McKenzie so far this year. Last week, the firm announced it hired former McDonald's general counsel Gloria Santona as of counsel in Chicago. Funds lawyer Karl Egbert joined the firm's New York office as a partner in its the corporate and securities practice. Also, earlier this year, Matthew Grant rejoined the firm in its Toronto office after a stint in-house at Tim Hortons/Restaurant Brands International. Baker McKenzie also promoted 19 new partners in North America at the start of the year.