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Baker & McKenzie’s Mumbai Scare

Thursday, December 4, 2008 1:56 PM - By Kashmir Hill

baker-logo.gifThough law firms can’t practice in India, several firms have opened offices there to do support work and handle back-office functions. (Howrey got attention for this earlier this year.) Baker & McKenzie has had its eye on India for some time now (which scares Indian law firms); Baker’s India Focus Group has more than 200 lawyers working in over 70 offices.

Last week, a number of those attorneys were meeting in Mumbai, and found themselves in the middle of the terror attacks that killed at least 172 people. COO Greg Walters sent a firm-wide e-mail out on Thanksgiving. Here’s an excerpt:

We have now accounted for all of our Baker & McKenzie people who were visiting Mumbai. The majority of those are now together in a safe house in Mumbai. However the remaining two members of our group are still in one of the hotels.They are both in their hotel rooms and are not being held hostage (you may be hearing reports of people inside the hotel being directly held hostage). We are continuing to do everything possible to get them out of the hotel as soon as it is safe to do so. We are in constant contact with both of those individuals and their immediate families and are providing support and advice.

david jacobs.jpgOne of the Baker attorneys trapped in a hotel was Australian partner David Jacobs, who was staying at the Oberoi/Trident Hotel. He was meeting 10 other Baker attorneys there, but they were out to dinner when he arrived at the hotel Wednesday night. His bad luck— they got to a safehouse, while he spent the next two days surrounded by explosions and gunfire.

According to the Sunday Mail, his Blackberry was his savior, as were two security experts hired by the firm to advise him:

Mr Jacobs spent the next 46 hours, desperately keeping the lines of communication open with his family and two security advisers, hired by his firm, who were in contact with Indian authorities….

The security advisers from a private firm in the US maintained contact throughout the ordeal, telling him about the progress of the rescue team and what to do if there was a fire or if he came face to face with the terrorists.

They told him the best escape routes and passed on advice according to the latest intelligence.

“Should an unlikely scenario play out where you are located by a terrorist first, you are best suited to comply at the initial contact,” one email said.

“If you are taken by terrorists, you need to plan escape.”

How much do security advisers get paid to come up with that one?

Jacobs’ son reports that his father kept his spirits up by making unfunny dad jokes, like, “I’m getting pretty hungry but the room service in this hotel is terrible.” Full Baker e-mail from Greg Walters, and more from “Indiana Jacobs,” after the jump.

David Jacobs was among 172 people trapped in the Oberoi; 148 survived the ordeal. From an interview with Jacobs in Time Magazine:

I decided to give up and wait. But first, I left messages for my wife and four children to say goodbye. Then I checked my mail and found this outpouring of support and affection, especially from my colleagues at my firm. I got myself something to eat from the mini-bar — in all I had water, soft drinks, three plums, two biscuits and two small Toblerones in two days. I wasn’t scared, really, though I was anxious.

Good plugging of the firm there. Baker could add this to their recruiting page.

Jacobs says the security firm’s advice was actually quite valuable:

“I didn’t sleep much… there was still gunfire and explosions every now and then. By midday on Thursday, there was no internet, and no water. I still had my Blackberry, and all the time it took to answer e-mails kept me busy and emotionally stable. I didn’t break down or anything. For some reason, I always knew I’d be fine if I wasn’t burnt to death. On the second night there was another fire. There was also a phone call, and I didn’t answer as my security agency had warned against it. They said it could be the terrorists trying to find out which rooms were occupied and who was in them, so they could come after us.

Ah, the sweet, sweet Blackberry. Jacobs was rescued Friday afternoon. No word as to the identity of the second member of the group that Walters refers to in the e-mail below.

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BAKER & McKENZIE FIRM-WIDE E-MAIL

From: Walters, Greg C
Sent: Thursday, November 27, 2008 3:28 PM
Cc: Conroy, John J
Subject: An update from Mumbai


Dear all,

I wanted to provide an update to the note I sent earlier:

We have now accounted for all of our Baker & McKenzie people who were visiting Mumbai. The majority of those are now together in a safe house in Mumbai.

However the remaining two members of our group are still in one of the hotels.They are both in their hotel rooms and are not being held hostage (you may be hearing reports of people inside the hotel being directly held hostage). We are continuing to do everything possible to get them out of the hotel as soon as it is safe to do so. We are in constant contact with both of those individuals and their immediate families and are providing support and advice.

While everyone from B&M (those in the safe house and those in the hotel) is unharmed, and in remarkably good spirits, clearly our two people inside the hotel remain in harms way.

Please continue to refrain from making any comment to the media and/or refer inquiries to Mark Bain, our global director of Communications.

I will, of course, update you as soon as we have further news

Best regards
Greg Walters
Chief Operating Officer

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Trapped in Mumbai: A Survivor’s Tale [Time]
BlackBerry a lifeline for lawyer trapped in Mumbai terror [Sunday Mail]
Howrey Opens Office in India, Gives Clients Lower-Cost Option [American Lawyer]

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Posted in: Baker & McKenzie, Disasters / Emergencies

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