Baker McKenzie has appointed its first female managing partner in its Cairo office.
Ghada El Ehwany has succeeded Mohamed Ghannam as managing partner of Helmy, Hamza & Partners, effective July 1.
El Ehwany heads the corporate and commercial practice group in the firm’s Cairo office. She joined Baker McKenzie in 2000 and has accumulated over 25 years of experience, moving across different offices in the region, namely Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
She was formerly a counsel in the UAE offices having been based in Dubai since 2013, and returned to the Cairo office in 2019, where she had previously worked for 14 years.
El Ehwany focuses on corporate and commercial matters, including mergers and acquisitions, employment, insolvency, compliance, investigations and dispute resolution.
“With over 25 years of legal experience in the Middle East, Ghada has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership and expertise,” said the firm. “Her appointment marks a historic milestone as she becomes the first female managing partner in the history of our Cairo office and the region—a powerful reflection of her leadership and the firm’s ongoing commitment to progress and inclusion.”
Ghannam heads the banking, projects, and capital markets practice groups for Helmy, Hamza & Partners, and has led the firm since 2019.
Helmy, Hamza & Partners was established in 1986. It has five partners, 12 counsel of varying seniority, and 21 associates.
Around the same time Baker McKenzie announced the promotion of 59 lawyers to partner across its global offices, effective July 1. These included Mostafa Lotayef, a specialist in banking and finance, based in the Cairo office.
Last year Baker McKenzie promoted three lawyers to partner in the Middle East, including two women. Laya Aoun-Hani joined the firm’s partnership in Dubai, with Hessa AlAiban and Tamim AlKhudhayri joining in Riyadh.
