据路透社消息，总部位于美国匹兹堡的礼德律师事务所正计划关闭其北京办公室，成为最新一家缩减中国运营的美国大型律师事务所。
礼德目前在大中华区共有北京、上海、香港三家办公室。该所告诉路透社，“我们已经决定战略性地将资源集中于上海办公室，未来上海将和香港、新加坡办公室展开紧密合作”。
“我们依旧深度承诺于对中国市场的服务。”该所表示。
礼德于2008年进入中国市场，同时开设了北京、香港办公室，并于2011年开设上海办公室。
根据礼德网站，北京办公室目前有7位律师。了解相关情况的人士告诉路透社，部分律师将迁至上海，律所也将对其他不迁去上海的律师提供协助。
7名律师中，包括了合伙人李晓蓓、林在志。两位律师都在过去十年中经历了多次事业轨道的转移。
根据ALB的记录，李晓蓓律师2013年从贝克·麦坚时加盟诺顿罗氏，后于2020年加入普华永道旗下北京瑞栢律师事务所，担任中国公司法业务主管；2022年瑞栢注销后，她加入了礼德。
林在志律师则是在2011年西盟斯筹建北京办公室时加盟，并于2019年加入了礼德。
礼德北京目前还有两位顾问杨亚、赵宏，以及三位律师周蕴菁、熊倩、徐扬。
目前礼德上海办公室有7位律师；香港办公室为亚洲规模最大，有90位律师。
过去一年中，已有瑞生、艾金·岗波、博钦、奥睿、威嘉、盛德、美富、安睿顺德伦、德杰9家国际律所宣布了关闭或整合中国内地业务的决策。
Reed Smith latest U.S. firm to scale back in China
Pittsburgh-founded Reed Smith is planning to close its Beijing office, becoming the latest major U.S. law firm to shrink its footprint in China. It will leave the firm with just one branch on the mainland, in Shanghai.
The firm has "decided to strategically consolidate our resources in our Shanghai office, which closely collaborates with our offices in Hong Kong and Singapore," Reuters quoted a firm spokesperson as saying.
"We remain deeply committed to the China market," the spokesperson said.
Reed Smith first entered the Greater China legal market in 2008, starting out with offices in Hong Kong and Beijing. It then opened an office in Shanghai in 2011.
According to the firm’s website, the Beijing office currently employs seven legal professionals. Some people from the Beijing office will transfer to the Shanghai location, and the firm is offering assistance to others who are not relocating, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Among the seven professionals are partners Barbara Li and Eric Lin, both of whom have undergone multiple career transitions over the past decade.
According to ALB records, Li joined Norton Rose from Baker McKenzie in 2013 and later moved to PwC’s affiliate firm Rui Bai in 2020, where she served as the head of corporate law in China. After Rui Bai’s deregistration in 2022, she joined Reed Smith.
Lin, on the other hand, helped to establish Simmons & Simmons’ Beijing office in 2011, but later joined Reed Smith in 2019.
Currently, Reed Smith’s Shanghai office employs seven lawyers, while the Hong Kong office, the largest in Asia, has 90 lawyers.
