Baker McKenzie offices in Washington, D.C. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

Baker McKenzie is continuing to grow its ranks in the Bay Area, bringing on a new partner from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett who has advised Microsoft through several billion-dollar transactions.

During her 13-year tenure at Simpson Thacher, where her most recent title was counsel, Marcela Robledo was part of the teams that advised Microsoft on its $26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn, its $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype, its $7.2 billion acquisition of Nokia—and later, Microsoft's $350 million sale of Nokia. She also took part in advising Google on its $1.65 billion acquisition of YouTube.

Robledo joined Baker McKenzie's intellectual property and technology practice as a partner on Monday as part of a string of hires the global mega-firm has made in northern California.

In August, Baker McKenzie poached Leif King, the former leader of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom's corporate practice in Palo Alto. In February, the firm recruited Lisa Fontenot and Derek Liu from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Their hires brought Baker McKenzie's mergers and acquisition practice in California to "full strength," the firm said at the time.

Those moves made Baker McKenzie an attractive firm to join, Robledo said. She added that the firm has a broader clientele than Simpson Thacher.

"The combination of the worldwide platform and a fantastic M&A team just made it a really good fit for me," Robledo said.

Large technology companies across the world are still pursuing strategic acquisitions even as the world grapples with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, said King, who leads Baker McKenzie's M&A and corporate practice in its California offices. Those companies are looking for acquisitions that "unlock a high level of additional benefits," he added.

"From a statistical perspective, M&A is down globally year over year," King said. "From an anecdotal perspective, we see the strategic tech acquirers absolutely continuing to pursue a volume of transactions in earnest."

Robledo's experience "greatly augments our existing M&A team, which is now one of the largest in Northern California," King said. Baker McKenzie now has 24 M&A lawyers spread across its Palo Alto and San Francisco offices.

The firm said it now has one of the largest M&A practices in the Bay Area, and touted itself as having over 2,500 deal lawyers in total.

Baker McKenzie had a relatively lackluster 2019, with its top-line revenue growing by 0.7%, according to the 2020 Am Law 100 report. That allowed DLA Piper to surpass Baker McKenzie as the third highest-grossing U.S. law firm last year.

Robledo is joining Baker McKenzie as the firm—like the rest of the U.S. legal industry—is grappling with the economic effects of the pandemic. Last month, the firm announced it had reduced compensation for both partners and nonpartner attorneys, as well as staff who make more than $100,000.

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