Christine Lagarde has been the eleventh and first woman Managing Director of the IMF since July 2011. She has been reelected for a five-year term as of July 4, 2016. A lawyer by background, she practiced for 20 years with the international law firm Baker McKenzie, of which she became global chairman in 1999. In 2005, Christine joined the French government as Trade Secretary. Two years later, she became the first woman to hold the post of Finance and Economy Minister of a G7 country.