It joins other BigLaw firms reducing their presence in China
Perkins Coie has announced the closure of its Shanghai office, becoming the latest in a series of firms that have reduced their presence in China.
Despite the closure, Perkins Coie still has its Beijing office, as well as the China intellectual property agency it opened in 2019. It will also maintain its presence in Taiwan, according to a report by the ABA Journal.
Perkins Coie is the fourth major law firm to shutter an office in China within the last eight months. Proskauer Rose, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, and Latham & Watkins had announced previous closures.
A handful of other firms have also announced job cuts. In September, Linklaters laid off 30 lawyers across its Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong offices. Similarly, Law360 reported that Kirkland & Ellis made cuts affecting nine lawyers in the same locations, but the firm did not confirm nor deny the story.
In its statement to Law360, Kirkland & Ellis highlighted the strength of its Asia capital markets team and said the team “continues to be one of the largest in the region.”
Last month, the International Bar Association released a report highlighting upcoming changes to China’s financial regulatory scheme.
The country’s new financial regulator, the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA), was described by the IBA as “a single, multi-sector, super regulator.”
“The financial regulatory reform will lead to higher requirements regarding compliance and risk control for domestic companies, as well as tougher enforcement actions being taken by the new regulator,” said David Liu, co-chair of the IBA China working group and a partner at Shanghai-based firm JunHe.
