The world’s largest law firm Baker & McKenzie is opening a new Global Services Centre in Belfast and creating 256 jobs in a variety of areas over three years.
The new centre for the global law firm will include more than 70 staff in legal services and 185 in administrative global services providing IT, HR, payroll and billing services, among other support lines.
Baker & McKenzie will begin recruiting in September with the jobs offering an average salary of stg£31,000.
“These are high quality jobs, contributing over stg£8m in salaries to the economy every year,” said Arlene Foster, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment.
“With roles available across a variety of functions, this investment will provide a wide range of opportunities for people at various stages of their career, from graduates to legal and other professionals.”
Foster also said the firm is keen to work closely with Northern Ireland’s universities to help develop curricula that will produce graduates with industry-relevant skills.
World’s biggest law firm
Chicago-headquartered Baker & McKenzie is the world’s largest law firm by revenues after recently announcing annual income of US$2.54bn. The firm employs almost 11,000 employees in 76 offices in 47 countries.
“The legal services operation will be the first unit of its type globally for Baker & McKenzie, and, as such, can be seen as a real coup for Belfast,” Foster said.
Invest NI is supporting the investment with an offer of stg£1,280,000.
Eduardo Leite, chairman of Baker & McKenzie, said this investment will enhance the firm’s ambition to lead its profession globally and offer its clients exceptional service wherever they are in the world, while benefiting the local economy through the creation of hundreds of new jobs.
Northern Ireland’s talented, workforce, cost-effective environment and attractive financial support packages are the reasons Foster cited for Baker & McKenzie’s investment in the region.
