
Mini Menon vandePol
Practice Focus
Mini Menon vandePol is the Head of Baker McKenzie's Asia Pacific Investigations, Compliance & Ethics Group, after successfully completing three years as the Global Chair. She is also the Chair of the Firm’s Global India Practice. Mini focuses on anti-bribery and corruption, trade sanctions, fraud and other senior executive misconduct investigations across Asia but most particularly in Hong Kong, China and India. Mini has more than 30 years' experience and is the trusted advisor to the boards and audit committees of the Firm's most significant global clients — assisting them to establish and enhance their risk management programs, assess risks in transactional opportunities and credibly investigate transgressions to support a strong commitment to a culture of compliance.
In her previous Global Chair role, she led a team of 900+ compliance and investigations practitioners in Asia Pacific, EMEA, Latin America and North America, which was ranked amongst the Top 10 global investigations firms by Global Investigations Review in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Mini herself has recently been awarded "Woman Lawyer of the Year" in The Macallan ALB Hong Kong Law Awards and "Best in White Collar Crime" Euromoney Asia Women in Business Law Awards in 2019. She is also named as one of the "Top 100 Women in Investigations" by Global Investigations Review.
Mini is the Firm's representative assisting the World Economic Forum's Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI) and a member of the WEF's Global Future Council.
Representative Legal Matters
- Providing investigation and litigation management and oversight advice in Bangladesh for a global telecommunications giant.
- Representing a US parent and Australian subsidiary in relation to civil proceedings relating to alleged bribery in India and subsequent US Department of Justice investigation.
- Conducting pre-acquisition compliance risk diligence and post-acquisition compliance integration for global F&B manufacturer / distributor expanding operations in Vietnam.
- Conducting an internal investigation in Hong Kong for a Fortune 500 consumer products manufacturer in respect of violations of its third party provider anticorruption policies by local management.
- Leading and managing a multinational, multiparty investigation for an ASX-200 infrastructure giant in respect of systemic violations and historic acts of corruption committed by its wholly owned subsidiary in Latin America.
- Acting in a large-scale global investigation by a major multinational into an allegation of systemic breaches of the FCPA by its employees in China and in South East Asia, including working closely with the US Department of Justice on behalf of our client to manage the scope and scale of the investigative process.
- Coordinating and managing a multijurisdictional team for an anticorruption investigation on behalf of a multinational FTSE 100 company into allegations made by an anonymous whistle-blower of alleged bribery amounting to hundreds of millions of RMB by a senior employee of the Shanghai business over a number of years.
Professional Honors
- Leading Lawyer (Corporate Investigations/Anti-Corruption - International Firms, China), Chambers Greater China Region, 2022 - 2025
- Leading Lawyer (Corporate Investigations/Anti-Corruption - International Firms, China), Chambers Global, 2017 - 2025
- Leading Partner (Regulatory: White-collar, Compliance and Investigations, Hong Kong), Legal 500 Asia Pacific, 2019 - 2025
- International A-List Lawyer, India Business Law Journal, 2025
- Litigation Star (White-collar Crime, Hong Kong), Benchmark Litigation Asia Pacific, 2021 - 2024
- Winner of Outstanding Achievement (Hong Kong), Euromoney Women in Business Law Awards, 2023
- Recommended Lawyer (Investigations, Hong Kong), Who's Who Legal, 2022
- Awardee of "Top 100 Women in Litigation" (White-collar Crime, China and Hong Kong), Benchmark Asia Pacific, 2020 - 2021
- Leading Lawyer (Corporate Investigations/Anti-Corruption - International Firms, China), Chambers Asia Pacific, 2017 - 2021
- Awardee of "Best in White Collar Crime", Euromoney Asia Women in Business Law Awards, 2019
- Awardee of "Woman Lawyer of the Year", The Macallan ALB Hong Kong Law Awards, 2019
- Awardee of "Best in Compliance and Regulatory", Euromoney Asia Women in Business Law Awards, 2018 (also shortlisted in 2017)
- Thought Leader (Investigations), Who’s Who Legal, Global Investigations Review, 2018 - 2019
- Named in India corporate compliance, India Business Law Journal, 2018
- Shortlisted for the FT Innovation Awards, 2018
- Awardee of "Top 100 Women in Investigations", Global Investigations Review, 2015
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Women's White Collar Defense Association (HK Chapter) - Vice President
- Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants - Member
- Monash University (Victoria, Australia) Global Leader's Network Advisory Committee Hong Kong - Chair
Corporate Responsibility
- Mini is the Firm's representative on the World Economic Forum's Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI) and a member of WEF's Global Future Council. Mini was previously a member of the B20 (corporate arm of the G20) Anti-Corruption Task Force and chair of its International Conventions workstream, and the sole external legal panelist on corruption issues to the top echelons of the Chinese government at the 2016 People's Congress.
Admissions
- Registered Foreign Lawyer~Hong Kong (2014)
- Victoria~Australia (1990)
Education
- Monash University (B.Sc.) (1989)
- Monash University (LL.B.) (1989)
Languages
- English
- Malayalam
Previous Offices
- Melbourne