两位知情人士透露，美国德杰律师事务所正考虑关闭其香港、北京办公室，将成为最新一家缩减大中华区运营的外国律所。
此举或源于持续低迷的资本市场，以及中美间不断加剧的紧张局势。
据悉，德杰香港办公室有超过20位员工，其中14人为律师——包括4位合伙人。根据其网站，德杰北京办公室则仅有3位律师。
德杰网站未显示其在大中华区还拥有其他办公室。
知情人士透露，6月初，将受影响的员工便被告知了办公室可能关闭的消息。
其中一人说，该所目前在全球拥有近1000名律师，其此后与部分北京、香港的员工展开了商议——尤其是律师雇员，探讨他们是否有可能迁至新加坡办公室。
假如此举确凿，德杰在亚洲的活动范围将缩减至新加坡——该办公室目前有14位律师，包括6位合伙人。
目前尚不清楚德杰办公室关闭的确定日期，也不清楚该所是否已将此变化告知客户。
德杰美国总部并未回复路透社的问询。
近期，受到外资运营、经济不确定性、交易量下降、地缘政治紧张等持续压力，一众美国及其他国际律师事务所正在考虑或已决定缩减在中国的运营。
据The American Lawyer杂志报道，去年德杰全球营收为12.94亿美元，仅增长0.4%；且合伙人人均创收同比下降了1.2%。
去年5月，德杰曾宣布裁员55位律师和43位商业专业人士，约占全球雇员的5%。
许多大型律所在2021年和2022年上半年经历了招聘狂潮，以应对创纪录的商业交易增长。然而，从去年开始，受高利率、高通胀和经济萧条恐惧影响，不少公司对交易及相关法律服务的胃口大减，大律所纷纷展开裁员。
两位知情人士说，德杰香港今年早些时候便裁掉了整个公司服务团队——其中包括3位律师和1位合伙人，以应对下行的市场和暗淡的IPO前景。
Exclusive: US law firm Dechert considering shuttering offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, say sources
U.S.-founded law firm Dechert is considering closing its offices in Hong Kong and Beijing, becoming the latest foreign firm to scale back in Greater China, two people said, amid a prolonged capital market downturn and growing Sino-U.S. tensions.
Dechert has more than 20 employees in its Hong Kong office, 14 of whom are lawyers, including four partners, according to its website and one of the people. Its Beijing office houses only three lawyers, as per the website.
There are no other China offices listed on the global law firm's website.
Some of the impacted employees were notified earlier this month about a potential office closure, said the people, who have knowledge of the matter but declined to be identified as they are not authorised to speak to the media.
The firm, which has about 1,000 lawyers globally, has since been in discussions with several employees in Hong Kong and Beijing, in particular lawyers, about a potential relocation to Singapore, said one of the people.
If the move from China is finalised, Dechert's Asia footprint will be limited to Singapore, which has 14 lawyers including six partners.
It was not immediately clear what would be the effective date of closure of the offices, and whether the firm has started notifying its clients about the move.
Dechert representatives in the U.S. did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
The move comes as a growing number of U.S. and other global law firms have been rethinking or reducing their presence in China amid growing pressures on foreign businesses, economic uncertainties, muted deal activities, and geopolitical tensions.
New government rules on data privacy and cybersecurity were among the reasons cited by Dentons last year when the global law firm ended its combination with China's Dacheng, an 8,000-lawyer firm.
Several other large U.S. law firms have also announced closures of some of their China offices or scaled down their offerings in the world's second-largest economy since last year.
DARKENING PROSPECTS
Morrison & Foerster said last week that it is winding down its Beijing office as its lease there ends later this year. It said most of its work in China is already being handled by lawyers in Shanghai, Hong Kong and elsewhere.
Sidley Austin said in May that it will shutter its Shanghai office, relocate staff and consolidate its China operations in Hong Kong and Beijing by September.
Dechert's gross global revenues grew by just 0.4% to $1.294 billion last year, while profits per equity partner sank 1.2% year-on-year at the firm, according to The American Lawyer magazine.
Dechert said in May last year that it was laying off 55 lawyers and 43 business professionals, equivalent to 5% of its global workforce.
Many major law firms went on a hiring spree globally in 2021 and early 2022, capitalizing on a record-breaking boom in corporate deal making.
However, they have leaned on job cuts to adjust to a decline in demand for legal services since last year as rising interest rates, high inflation and recession fears have soured some companies' appetites for deals and other legal work.
In Hong Kong, Dechert earlier this year axed the whole corporate offering team which had about four lawyers including one partner, as a market downturn and sluggish IPOs darken prospects, said one of the people and another person with direct knowledge.
