Baker & Daniels
 | |
| Company type | LLP |
|---|---|
| Industry | Law |
| Founded | 1863 |
| Headquarters | Indianapolis, Indiana, USA |
| Website | www.bakerdaniels.com |
Baker & Daniels LLP is a full-service law firm representing clients in regional, national and international matters.
Firm Profile
With more than 370 lawyers and legal professionals, the firm counsels clients in transactional, regulatory and litigation issues throughout the United States and around the world. Founded in 1863, Baker & Daniels' clients include Fortune 500 corporations, regional businesses, local governments, nonprofit organizations and individuals. Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, Baker & Daniels also has offices in Chicago, Illinois; Washington, D.C.; Fort Wayne, Indiana; South Bend, Indiana; and Beijing, P.R. China.
Divisions
B&D Consulting, a national advisory and advocacy firm based in Washington, D.C., is a division of Baker & Daniels. Since 1985, the consulting firm's professionals have served private and public sector clients across the United States with expertise in technical analysis, strategic planning and external communications skills.
B&D Consulting serves clients in a number of sectors, including communities and local governments, community services, education, energy and climate change, federal government relations, health and life sciences, insurance and financial services, social services, sports and entertainment, and strategic and public policy communications.
B&D Equity Property Tax Group is a division of B&D Consulting. With an office in Chicago, the group provides a full range of services, including implementing tax strategies and creating tax policies to meet each client's goals. B&D Equity Property Tax Group professionals also recommend deal structuring options that minimize current and future taxes, as well as help clients achieve profitability, cost control, transparency and reporting.
Services
Baker & Daniels professionals practice in a wide range of areas involving legal matters, including:
- Antitrust
- Appellate law
- Banking and commercial finance
- Bankruptcy and business restructuring
- Benefits and executive compensation
- Business and corporate finance
- Certified business enterprises and supplier diversity
- China
- Constitutional law
- Construction law
- Economic development
- Education law
- Energy and climate change
- Energy and public utilities
- Environmental law
- Family law
- Government services
- Health and life sciences
- Immigration
- Insurance and financial services
- Intellectual property (advertising and media law, China, copyrights, e-commerce and privacy, international, life sciences, litigation, patents and trademarks)
- International
- Labor and employment
- Litigation
- Manufacturing and logistics
- Nonprofit organizations
- Product liability
- Public and municipal finance
- Real estate and land use
- Recreational vehicles
- Sports and entertainment
- Tax (local and state)
- Trusts and estates
- White collar criminal defense, corporate compliance and internal investigations
Pro Bono
At Baker & Daniels, the firm's lawyers, paralegals and other professionals seek to improve and expand access to justice for underserved individuals and communities. Baker & Daniels has a long-standing commitment to pro bono and public interest work. Professionals strive to protect the civil and public rights of others — and to address the needs of people with limited means. Baker & Daniels fully integrates pro bono and public interest work into its practice, philosophy and culture.
Today, lawyers, paralegals and other professionals at Baker & Daniels are involved in dozens of pro bono and public interest projects, engagements and cases impacting communities, states, the nation and the world. The list of those for whom the firm represents and advocates for include:
- Domestic violence victims
- At-risk children, individuals and families of modest means requiring in-court representation in a range of civil litigation contexts through existing legal service programs and clinics
- Veterans seeking assistance to receive benefits or appealing denial of benefits
- Deployed national guard personnel and their families
- Minority businesses
- Individuals requiring immigration and political asylum assistance
- Patients benefiting from advocacy for medical and legal services
- Pro se defendants before federal and state appellate courts
- Capital litigation defendants
- GLBT organizations and individuals
- Low income seniors requiring end of life documentation
- Holocaust survivors seeking reparations
- Organizations serving low income individuals and communities
- Youth sports programs
- Artists of modest means requiring legal assistance and Community arts organizations
China
Baker & Daniels began building relationships in [China] during the 1980s and was representing U.S. companies in China by the early 1990s. In 1995, Baker & Daniels applied for a license to formally establish an office in China, becoming one of the first 14 U.S. law firms with an office in China.
Attorneys in Baker & Daniels' China practice in [Beijing], as well as many in the firm's U.S. offices, are U.S.-educated lawyers who speak Mandarin and Shanghaiese, understand governmental compliance issues and restrictions, and are knowledgeable on the way Chinese companies conduct business.
Global Network
Baker & Daniels has developed relationships with many excellent foreign law firms through membership in Lex Mundi, the world's leading association of more than 160 independent law firms. With its membership, Baker & Daniels has access to more than 21,000 lawyers from more than 560 law offices. Member firms provide ready access to the expertise and market knowledge in 100 countries, covering practically any jurisdiction in the world.
Baker & Daniels has been a member of Lex Mundi since 1989, the year it was established. Each Lex Mundi member firm is among the oldest, largest and most prominent in its location. Baker & Daniels is the exclusive Indiana member. Outside the United States, Lex Mundi law firm members are located in Africa & the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Canada, Europe and Latin America & the Caribbean.
Clients
Baker & Daniels is committed to delivering the highest standard of business and legal services to its most important asset, its clients. Whatever the industry, whatever the business endeavor, Baker & Daniels' legal professionals stay current on the laws. One of the ways the firm keeps its clients informed is through practice-specific newsletters. Baker & Daniels newsletters are structured to provide timely, succinct (and occasionally entertaining) legal updates and case studies.
Baker & Daniels professionals also develop informative seminars on various topics and are frequent speakers at seminars and conferences across the country. Proud of its long history and excited about the future, Baker & Daniels remains focused on the success of its clients. The firm's commitment to integrity and professionalism is exhibited in its Client Service Principles — be accessible, be responsive, be courteous, be communicative, be responsible, be prompt, be creative, be effective and be fair.
Offices
Baker & Daniels serves clients worldwide from seven offices.
- Indianapolis - Downtown
- Indianapolis - 96th Street
- South Bend
- Fort Wayne
- Chicago
- Washington, D.C.
- Beijing
History
Baker & Daniels was founded in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1863 by then-U.S. Senator Thomas A. Hendricks, who later served as Governor of Indiana and Vice President of the United States under Grover Cleveland. The first Baker at the firm was Conrad Baker, who also served as Governor of Indiana. Later, Albert Baker, the son of Conrad Baker, and Edward Daniels, the first Daniels at the firm, joined the practice. After going through several name changes, the firm became known as Baker & Daniels in 1888. After that, Joseph Daniels, the son of Edward Daniels, joined the firm.
Through the years, Baker & Daniels has expanded to better serve its clients. In 1976, the firm established an office in Washington, D.C. The Fort Wayne, Indiana, office opened in 1983. Two years later, Baker & Daniels created a subsidiary company — Sagamore Associates, which later became B&D Sagamore. Located in Washington, D.C., Sagamore assisted clients with federal relations issues.
In the 1990s, Baker & Daniels continued to expand. The South Bend, Indiana, office opened in 1990, followed by the Elkhart, Indiana, office in 1993. In 1998, the future of Baker & Daniels took an exciting new direction when the firm’s first overseas office was opened in China. During that time, Baker & Daniels created a second subsidiary company called Capitol Direct (which later became B&D Quorum). This D.C.-based company assisted clients through grassroots advocacy, direct marketing and public affairs efforts.
In 2000, Baker & Daniels opened its 96th Street office in Indianapolis. In addition, a new Baker & Daniels subsidiary was founded — Aventor, a global medical technology consulting firm. At the start of 2006, merging the people and practices of Aventor, B&D Quorum and B&D Sagamore into one company, B&D Consulting, assured an integrated, comprehensive approach to meeting clients’ challenges and goals.
As part of a long-term growth strategy, Baker & Daniels consolidated its practices in North Central Indiana into a regional model in 2007 by transferring operations in Elkhart to the South Bend office. Then in 2008, the firm celebrated the grand opening of a new South Bend office in one of downtown's most prominent buildings. Baker & Daniels was part of a multimillion dollar renovation project, allowing the firm to occupy the top five floors in a 14-story bank building. Also in 2007, B&D Consulting expanded its national services to the property tax industry with the addition of the B&D Equity Property Tax Group in Chicago. The group, which brought many years of experience in national property tax matters, aligned with the firm's growth initiative and provided entry into the Chicago market.
Baker & Daniels expanded its presence in Chicago with the opening of a new law office in 2008. As the major Midwest commercial center, Chicago not only compliments the firm's existing national and international practices in Indiana, Washington, D.C. and China but helps better serve the needs of existing clients in and around Chicagoland, as well as improving access to additional legal and consulting talent.
From the beginning, talented and dedicated lawyers have practiced at Baker & Daniels, including many whose careers involved public service. Evan Bayh was a Baker & Daniels partner before his election to the U.S. Senate. Other former partners include Stephen Goldsmith, former Mayor of Indianapolis; Pam Carter, the first African-American female State Attorney General in the country; and Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, a firm partner before taking a senior position at Eli Lilly and Company. One former partner is and another was a Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court. Jack Swarbrick, a former Baker & Daniels partner, became athletic director at the University of Notre Dame in 2008, and Fred Glass, another former partner at Baker & Daniels, became athletic director at Indiana University at the start of 2009.
Baker & Daniels lawyers also have a long tradition of involvement in public service on the local level. The firm's lawyers continue to serve on the boards of a broad array of civic, charitable, social service and arts organizations in the communities where they work and live.