Welcome to the second edition of our HK/China Alumni News.

Since the launch of our inaugural newsletter in July, I am delighted to have received so much positive feedback, requests to be added to the mailing list, and also some wonderful anecdotes about our history as a Firm. It is heartening to reconnect with so many of you.

As the old adage states, to understand where you are going, know where you are coming from. In this edition, I had the pleasure of speaking via a video call with the founder of our Hong Kong office, John Connor, who is now based in Sydney. He remains passionate about the Firm, and shared many illuminating and amusing stories about our early days in Hong Kong. John is a hugely important figure in the history of our Firm in this region, as he also played a key role in opening our offices in Sydney, Singapore, Jakarta and Thailand. We covered so much ground that our video interview is divided into two parts, with the second part to be shared in our next edition.

We also hear from Yin Jie, a former International Associate of our Beijing Employment Practice Group, who has now moved into an employment law role with one of our key clients, Accenture. And we profile Christian Atzler, who is now based in Frankfurt and heads our EMEA M&A Practice Group, but spent several formative years in both our Hong Kong and Shanghai offices. We hope you enjoy all of these conversations.

As always, if you have any questions you’d like to ask, suggestions for events, content to share with the wider network, or anything you’d like to profile in this publication, we would be very keen to hear about it. Please do not hesitate to reach out by emailing our alumni mailbox (click here).

We hope you will enjoy this publication, and I look forward to connecting with you all in person in the near future.

Finally, as we head towards the end of 2020, I want to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy holiday season. May the New Year bring you health, happiness and prosperity.

Best regards,
Steven Sieker
HK/China Managing Partner
Baker McKenzie

When we talk about alumni, one of the first names that immediately springs to mind is John Connor, the founder of our Hong Kong office. In fact, John also played a role in opening our offices in Sydney, Singapore, Thailand and Jakarta. We recently recorded a wide-ranging video interview with John, where he recounts his memories of our earliest days in Hong Kong, and beyond. Read more

After studying law in Taiwan and his native Germany, Christian Atzler joined Baker McKenzie as trainee in late 2004, spending three months in Hong Kong and a month in Shanghai. With a proficiency in Mandarin and a desire to spend more time experiencing work and life in China as it opened up to the world, he officially joined our Hong Kong office in 2005. Read more

In this issue we catch up with Yin Jie, Greater China Employment Law Senior Counsel, Accenture, and former International Associate of our Employment Practice Group in Baker McKenzie Beijing. Read more

Find out about various happenings across our offices, including new flexible working arrangements, fundraising for good causes, and the sad passing of one of our esteemed former colleagues. Read more