Former Baker McKenzie Chair Dies While on Leave for Exhaustion
Bloomberg Law is reporting that Baker McKenzie’s former global chair Paul Rawlinson died April 12, several months after taking a temporary leave of absence due to exhaustion.
Rawlinson was an intellectual property lawyer who led the firm’s global IP practice from 2004 to 2010, with such clients as Cisco, L’Oréal, British American Tobacco, and Eli Lilly. He was appointed global chair in 2016 and was based in London.
At the time of his leave announcement in October, a spokesperson said, “There are likely to be many factors that have contributed to his exhaustion, but we have to respect his privacy.”
Another Bloomberg article reports that during his time at head of the firm, Rawlinson pushed Baker McKenzie’s 6,000-plus attorneys in about 80 countries to embrace new technologies, such as a new type of video email.
Baker McKenzie called his death “unexpected,” though the cause has not been disclosed.