U.S. law firm Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton closed its Beijing office in late March, ending a nearly eight-year run. Shanghai will now be the firm’s only office in China. The other office in Asia is located in Seoul.
The shuttering of the Beijing office was largely due to two key partner departures in May last year – former Beijing office managing partner James Zimmerman and intellectual property partner Scott Palmer headed to Perkins Coie. After Zimmerman’s departure, corporate expert Tony Mou served as the Sheppard Mullin’s chief representative in Beijing.
The Shanghai office, which was opened in 2007, has nine lawyers, including five partners, of which three were elevated in the last 18 months. Don Williams is the managing partner and chief representative of the Shanghai office.
“Our China practice is busy and vibrant. We chose to focus our China resources in Shanghai as that is the most logical centre for our thriving cross-border M&A and IP practices. We are very proud of these award-winning practices, which serve clients such as Alibaba and Grab. We look forward to continuing to strengthen and build our China practice from this international hub,” Williams said to ALB.
Over the past few years, several other U.S. firms have scaled back in China, including Troutman Sanders, Davis Wright Tremaine, Winston & Strawn, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson and Chadbourne & Parke.
盛智关闭北京代表处 上海成为其中国唯一代表处
美国盛智律师事务所3月下旬关闭其在北京的代表处，结束了近八年的运营。上海成为盛智在中国唯一的代表处。盛智在亚洲的另一个代表处设在韩国首尔。
关闭北京代表处的一个主要原因是去年5月两位重量级合伙人的离开：一位是前北京代表处管理合伙人James Zimmerman，另一位是前北京代表处知识产权合伙人Scott Palmer，两位均加入了博钦律师事务所。Zimmerman离开后，公司业务合伙人Tony Mou担任盛智北京代表处的首席代表。
上海代表处设立于2007年，目前共有9位律师，其中包含5位合伙人，他们中的3位是在过去的18个月中新晋升的合伙人。魏廉律师是上海代表处的管理合伙人兼首席代表。
“盛智在中国的业务蒸蒸日上、势头良好。我们选择将中国的资源集中在上海，是看到上海是促进我们跨境并购及知识产权业务蓬勃发展的理想之地。我们服务了阿里巴巴、Grab等客户，并为取得的殊荣和成绩感到自豪。我们期待在上海这个国际中心城市继续加强和拓展盛智在中国的业务。”魏廉律师告诉亚洲法律杂志。
在过去的几年里，一些美国律所相继缩减在中国的业务规模，包括：美国长盛律师事务所、戴维斯•莱特•特里梅因律师事务所、美国温斯顿律师事务所、美国凯威莱德律师事务所、美国法朗克律师事务所及美国查德本•派克律师事务所。
To contact the editorial team, please email ALBEditor@thomsonreuters.com.