Baker Robbins & Company (BRCO) has just announced that co-founder and chairman David Baker will retire on January 1, 2010. Baker has worked the legal technology sector for over 30 years, founding BRCO in 1984. (In January 2007 the consultancy was acquired by Thomson Reuters.)

Baker is leaving the legal industry to accept a role with the University of Wisconsin in an initiative involving best practice development in small and mid size farm operations management. The effort is funded by the USDA's Risk Management Agency and comes at a critical time in which local, sustainable food sources must be more heavily emphasized across the country in light of growing challenges such as global warming and carbon footprint, water supply, food transportation costs, and food quality.

Co-founder Brad Robbins will remain in his position of CEO at BRCO.