Baker & McKenzie San Francisco Palo Alto elects new management committee.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 11, 1995--Baker & McKenzie, the international law firm with nearly 1,700 attorneys and 53 offices worldwide, announced Wednesday that its 63-attorney Bay Area (San Francisco and Palo Alto) office has elected a new three-partner management committee to oversee the offices' activities during the next two years.

"Our priorities in 1995-1996 are: (1) the ongoing implementation of the firm's client care and quality management initiative; (2) the continuing advancement of workplace quality for our attorneys and staff; (3) accelerating our use of state-of-the-art technology to integrate our unique global network; and (4) improving our growth in revenues and operating profits," explained managing partner-elect Edward D. Burmeister.

He pointed out that the management committee also will continue efforts begun by previous committee members to facilitate community outreach activities by Bay Area Baker & McKenzie attorneys and staff. "We have an outstanding pool of talent and expertise, many of whom are already actively engaged in bringing their skills to help those in public schools and educational efforts, nonprofits and legal aide organizations," Burmeister said -- "efforts we will continue to encourage. We look forward to the challenges that accompany our new responsibilities, and we will report publicly on our progress throughout the coming year."

Elected to the committee in addition to Burmeister are Peter M. Astiz and John M. Peterson Jr. Peterson is a member of the out-going management committee, and will serve a one-year term to facilitate continuity on initiatives already under way. The committee assumed office on Jan. 1, 1995.

Burmeister, who becomes the managing partner, joined Baker & McKenzie in 1988 and has a legal practice focused on executive compensation and employee benefits issues. He is a leading expert on international benefits issues. Burmeister also serves on Baker & McKenzie's Task Force on Workplace Issues, which is charged with creating policies, practices and procedures to improve the workplace.

A graduate of Stanford University and Stanford Law School, he served as managing editor of the "Stanford Law Review." Burmeister also is past chair of the Taxation Section of the State Bar of California, and he is listed in "The Best Lawyers in America."

Astiz is a partner in the San Francisco/Palo Alto office and practices primarily in corporate and securities law, with an emphasis on general counsel representation, mergers and acquisitions, public and private financing transactions, as well as advising technology-related businesses from start-up through public company status. His mergers and acquisitions' practice includes local and other domestic companies, as well as non-U.S. companies involved in U.S. acquisitions. A business graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Astiz's law degree is from the University of San Francisco, where he served as articles editor of the Law Review. Astiz works primarily out of Baker & McKenzie's Palo Alto office.

John M. Peterson Jr. also is a partner in the San Francisco/Palo Alto office and has been with Baker & McKenzie since 1977. His legal practice has a strong focus on intercompany pricing, international tax planning, high technology tax issues and the resolution of tax controversies.

A member of the American Bar Association's Tax Section and past chair of the Committee on Affiliated and Related Corporations, Peterson is a frequent speaker on international tax issues and on intercompany pricing for programs sponsored by Baker & McKenzie, the World Trade Institute and the Tax Executives Institute.

Peterson, along with out-going management committee member, Maurice Emmer, was named as one of the top individual tax advisors in the West earlier this year by the International Tax Review, which named Baker & McKenzie as the best firm on the West Coast for tax law advice. Peterson has a degree in accounting from the University of Notre Dame, and his law degree is from Harvard Law School. He also is a Certified Public Accountant.

Burmeister saluted the initiatives and outstanding services rendered by the members of the out-going management committee who served Baker & McKenzie's San Francisco/Palo Alto office in 1993-1994. Composed of partners Maurice Emmer, Virginia Gibson, John McKenzie, John Peterson and chair Robert Yahng, the committee instituted a number of new internal and external policies to improve working conditions, to further the office's commitment to client care and quality management, and to expand on its strong domestic and international client base.

Baker & McKenzie is the world's largest law firm, with 1,665 lawyers who practice in 53 offices located in 32 countries. The San Francisco/Palo Alto office includes 63 attorneys.

CONTACT: Baker & McKenzie

             Robert Yahng, 415/576-3035
             MacKenzie Communications
             William Strawn, 415/433-8200