George Goulding, partner at Slaughter and May, has packed his bags and is on his way to the firm’s new Beijing office. This move comes a year after Slaughter and May announced its plans to open a Beijing office. Carol Wong, a lawyer with four years PQE, will join Goulding. Together they will establish Slaughter and May’s presence in the PRC and widen their circle of acquaintances.
This is a strategic move by Slaughter and May and will obviously allow it to get closer to the Chinese corporate community and be on the ground to handle PRC aspects of transactions. A presence in Beijing will also assist Slaughter and May to develop its alliances with PRC law firms. Goulding did not mention any specific names but he did confirm that Slaughter and May are getting closer to a handful of PRC firms. “They are the names that you would expect to see – the top independent firms,” said Goulding.
Slaughter and May will also be establishing its presence in Beijing alongside European “best friends” Uria Menendez (Spain) and De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek (The Netherlands). The three law firms will have neighbouring offices. However, Goulding was quick to point out that each law firm in the PRC has to be independent. “Each of the three best friends has its own licences, own authorised representatives, exclusive office space, separate computer systems and telephone systems,” Goulding said. “We will work together as and when appropriate, as we work together with PRC firms.”
Goulding expects that Slaughter and May should be able to start fully operating from its Beijing office around the end of the month.
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