奥杰早前在上海开设代表处之后，已经成为第一家在中国大陆拥有办公室的离岸法律事务所。
该律所的集团首席执行官Nick Kershaw表示，上海代表处的成立「非常重要」，将使得该所直接向大陆客户就英属维尔京群岛、开曼群岛、耿西岛和泽西岛这些主要离岸司法管辖区提供法律咨询服务。Kershaw说，该所的最新代表处将和香港的现有资源紧密合作，他说香港办事处的规模将在今后三年内翻番。
奥杰上海办事处将由施煜琼带领，她曾担任英澳矿业巨头力拓公司的中国/亚洲区法律总监。
虽然奥杰也许是第一家在中国大陆设立办公室的离岸法律事务所，它绝对不是第一家考虑过采取这类行动的事务所。多年来，许多奥杰的离岸事务所同行也一直在考虑在北京或上海设立办公室。在香港，跟《亚洲法律杂志》比较密切的人士称，法规的不确定性是在中国开设办公室的主要障碍，尤其是在关于在大陆提供离岸司法管辖区域法律咨询服务的合法性方面。
但有多名律师说，奥杰在大陆采取的行动并没有完全消除这些担心，因为该所的办公室将作为其香港业务的一个「代表处」运作，这种做法意味着奥杰的新办公室可能并没有获得就英属维尔京群岛、开曼群岛、耿西岛和泽西岛提供法律咨询服务的完全授权。
例如，开曼的Maples and Calder律师行表示，他们将继续对情况保持关注。该所在一份声明中说:「我们理解，关于在中国设立全面执业的离岸法律事务所可能还会有一些法规限制，在那些得以澄清并且客户要求我们在中国设立办公室的需要达到火烧眉毛的地步之前，我们将继续监视形势的发展。」该律师行还称:「目前，尤其是鉴于我们启动了新的电子服务平台，可以让所有客户全天候在线进入其实体的企业记录，我们并没有觉得有很紧迫的需要为我们的企业组建服务设立一个代表处。」
尽管有这样的声明，对于那些在亚洲营业的离岸法律事务所来说，中国仍然是最有利可图但还远未得到开发的市场之一。其他离岸律所跟进仿效奥杰在中国大陆所采取的行动，也许只是一个时间问题。
Ogier has become the first offshore law firm with an office in Mainland China after launching in Shanghai earlier this month.
The firm's group chief executive officer, Nick Kershaw, described the establishment of the office in Shanghai as "critically important" and will allow the firm to offer advice on the laws of BVI, Cayman, Guernsey and Jersey directly to clients based in the mainland. Kershaw says that the firm's newest office will work closely with existing resources in Hong Kong-- an office that Kershaw says will double in size over the next three years.
The firm's Shanghai office will be led by Kristy Calvert who was formerly a legal director (China/Asia) for Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto.
While Ogier may be the first offshore player to launch a mainland Chinese office, it is by no means the first to have considered the move. A number of Ogier's offshore counterparts have been mulling Beijing or Shanghai offices for a number of years. Here, sources close to ALB cite regulatory uncertainty, specifically around the legality of offering advice on the laws of offshore jurisdictions from the mainland, as the major hurdle to opening in the PRC.
But according to a number of lawyers, Ogier's mainland move does not adequately resolve these concerns especially as the firm's office will operate as a 'representative office' of its Hong Kong operations-- a move that means the new office may not have full licence to advise on BVI, Cayman, Guernsey and Jersey law.
Maples and Calder, for instance, said that they will continue to monitor the situation: "We understand that there may still be some regulatory limitations with regard to the establishment of a full execution offshore law firm in the PRC and until that is clarified, and client demand for a Maples office in China is compelling, we will continue to monitor the situation," the firm said in a statement. "At present, given in particular the launch of our new eServices platform which allows all clients, amongst other things, 24/7 online access to the corporate records of its entities, we do not see any immediate need to set up a rep[resentative] office for our corporate formation services," the firm said.
This statement notwithstanding, China remains one of the most lucrative, yet largely untouched, markets for offshore law firms operating in Asia and it may only be a matter of time until other offshore players seek to emulate Ogier's mainland move.
