Baker McKenzie has promoted seven London lawyers to its partnership in an 81-strong intake of new partners around the world, bringing the total number of partners to 1,550.

The new London partners are intellectual property and tech lawyers Helen Brown and Julia Hemmings, private equity lawyers David Hart and Phelim O'Doherty, banking and finance lawyer Sarah Porter, antitrust and competition lawyer James Robinson, and disputes resolution lawyer Gemma Willingham.

Alex Chadwick, the managing partner of the London office, said in a statement: "Alongside our recent hires, this significant number of promotions in London reflects our growth plans."

The bumper promotions round is nearly 20% larger than last years' round, which saw 68 admitted to the partnership. Of the 81 partners, 48 were promoted to equity partners.

Across the firm's practice groups globally, tax and M&A saw the largest intake of new partners, with dispute resolution also significantly adding to its numbers.

The firm also made 34 lateral hires during the year,

Women made up almost 40% of partner promotions, bringing the total number of female partners at the firm to more than 400, which Bakers claims is the largest of any firm.

It follows the announcement earlier this month that the firm had set itself a six-year diversity target to achieve a diversity split of 40:40:20, to represent 40% women, 40% men and 20% flexible, which the firm says can include women, men and non-binary persons.

Baker McKenzie 2019 partner promotions in full:

Antitrust and competition: Nadia Goreslavskaya (Moscow), Christiaan van der Meer (Amsterdam), James Robinson (London), Johannes Weichbrodt (Dusseldorf), John J. Fedele (Washington).

Banking and finance: Chavapol Akkaravoranun (Bangkok), Grace Li (Shanghai), Kosuke Suzuki (Tokyo), Fatima Alhasan (Bahrain), Eric Blomme (Brussels), Sarah Porter (London), Frank Grese (New York).

Capital markets: Louis Hsieh (Taipei) ,Henric Roth (Stockholm).

Dispute resolution: Daisy Chung (Taipei), Joanna Ouyang (Taipei), Tony Tang (Taipei), Alexander Korobeinikov (Almaty), Gemma Willingham (London), Luca Pescatore (Rome), Luis Borghi (Sao Paulo), Jessica L. Averitt (Houston), Javier Jaime-Gonzalez (Monterrey), Roberta Chan (Hong Kong), Helen Joyce (Melbourne).

Employment and compensation: Danielle Pinedo (Amsterdam), Nam-Ake Lekfuangfu (Bangkok), Priscila Kirchhoff (Sao Paulo), Melissa Allchin (Chicago), Elizabeth Ebersole (Chicago), Jordan A. Kirkness (Toronto).

International and commercial trade: Milena Hoffmanova (Prague), Ana Sofia Reyna (Lima), Mohammad M. Alturk (Dallas), John M. Foote (Washington). 

IP tech: Pattaraphan Paiboon (Bangkok), Helen Brown (London), Julia Hemmings (London), Florian Tannen (Munich), Lukas Feiler (Vienna), Adam D. Aft (Chicago), Brandon Moseberry (Chicago), Christine M. Streatfeild (Washington).

Mergers and acquisitions: Mihoko Ida (Tokyo), Gerrit Jan Kleute (Jakarta), Lawrence Mendes (Sydney), Waratchaya Tungsuwan (Bangkok), Robert Wright (Hong Kong), Hani Naja (Abu Dhabi), Ghada El Ehwany (Cairo), Geraldine Mirelman (Buenos Aires), Martin Roth (Buenos Aires), Paolo Robilliard (Lima), Patricia (Marianna), Ostolaza (Lima), Felipe Calil (Sao Paulo), J. Brook Mestre (Dallas), Carlo Andoni Perez-Arizti Morales (Mexico City), Scott D. Meselson (San Francisco).

Private equity: David Hart (London), Phelim O'Doherty (London).

Pro bono: Kate Gillingham (Sydney).

Projects: Franco Aversa (Sydney), Sun Kyun Lim (Singapore), Ilona Millar (Sydney), Lucas Tyszkiewicz (Sydney), Leo Vellis (Sydney), Marco Antonio Nieto-Vazquez (Mexico City).

Real estate: Rita Marchetti (Milan).

Tax: Marina Tokunova (Moscow), Elliott Murray (Geneva), Horacio Neto (Rio de Janeiro), Matthew Hayes (Chicago), Meaghan Wolfe (Chicago), Jason A. Graham (Dallas), Rodney W. Read (Houston), Javier Ordonez Namihira (Mexico City), Amanda T. Kottke (Palo Alto), Adam T. O'Brien (San Francisco), Maurice Moe Worsley (San Francisco), Saman Kamyans (Washington), Amanda W. Martin (Washington).