Baker & McKenzie competition partner Samantha Mobley is an adept juggler. She heads the firm's 100-lawyer European Commission and competition practice across Europe and also runs London's diversity committee. Both groups have enjoyed success in the past 12 months.

Her competition practice has had some juicy mergers to advise on during 2006, including L'Oréal's £650m takeover of The Body Shop and Macquarie Bank's failed £1.5bn run at the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Both required European Commission competition advice.

Heading up competition matters in Europe means she also has a place on Bakers' global steering committee and mothers emerging competition practices worldwide, such as in the new Cairo office.

Meanwhile, Mobley is Bakers' first head of diversity, a committee she founded three years ago. She has made sure that the firm got on to gay advocacy group Stonewall's 'diversity champions' list, meaning that Bakers is one of only seven law firms in the UK that officially gives equal benefits to its gay employees and has a zero-tolerance policy for homophobia.

In late 2006 Mobley also instigated an ethnicity focus group made up of Bakers' employees to advise the diversity committee on racial issues.