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Hughes Hubbard received approval from China's Ministry of Justice in 2023 to open a Beijing office but never did so. It has now won approval to de-register its representative office, while Korea's Bae, Kim & Lee is moving its Shanghai operations to Beijing, according to Law.com International Edition.
The two approvals formalise plans that point in opposite directions: a US firm abandoning a mainland licence it never used, and a Korean firm reducing its presence to one mainland base.
At least 14 Big Law firms closed China offices as Am Law headcount fell 25%
The two approvals come amid a sustained withdrawal from mainland China. Am Law 100 lawyer headcount in Beijing and Shanghai fell 25% from 569 to 424 over two years, and 35% over five years, The Global Legal Post reported.
At least 14 Big Law firms announced China office closures in a single year, including Milbank, Paul Weiss, Skadden, Morrison & Foerster, Sidley Austin, Weil and Orrick, according to the same report. Cleary Gottlieb confirmed it would close its Beijing office in July 2025, The Global Legal Post reported. Sidley Austin closed its Shanghai office in September 2024 and consolidated its China operations in Beijing and Hong Kong, as Law.asia reported. Morgan Lewis shut its Shenzhen office after less than two years, The Global Legal Post reported. K&L Gates announced the closure of its Beijing office, Legal Era reported. Dentons separated from its China operation, and Latham & Watkins closed its Shanghai office, Bloomberg Law reported.
Bloomberg Law attributed the pullback to geopolitical tensions, new US investment restrictions, regulatory obstacles facing Western lawyers in China and a cooling economy.
Hughes Hubbard builds China arbitration and investigations work from Los Angeles
Hughes Hubbard has built a US-based China practice instead of a mainland one. It hired Yi-Chin Ho from Kirkland & Ellis as China practice co-leader in Los Angeles. Managing partner Ted Mayer said the firm was keeping a "careful eye on the developments in Beijing" before deciding how to operate there, Bloomberg Law reported.
The practice focuses on arbitration, white-collar investigations, antitrust, trade regulation, securities fraud and DOJ matters affecting Chinese and Taiwanese companies. That work can be handled from the US rather than from a Beijing office, according to Bloomberg Law. The firm considers Los Angeles strategically important because of capital flows and China-related dispute activity.
That affects where China-related disputes and investigations work is based. As firms reduce their presence on the mainland, US firms increasingly handle China matters from offshore hubs such as Los Angeles and Hong Kong, Bloomberg Law reported. The lawyers who lead that work are increasingly based in those hubs rather than on the mainland.
Beijing becomes the consolidation hub as Bae, Kim & Lee leaves Shanghai
BKL's move takes the opposite route but leads to a similar result. The firm was the first Korean law firm with offices in both Beijing, opened in October 2004, and Shanghai, opened in September 2008. It had established its China Practice Group in 1997, according to Bae, Kim & Lee. Founded in 1980 with more than 800 professionals, it added a Hong Kong office in 2013, The Global Legal Post reported.
Consolidating in Beijing preserves BKL's China practice for Korean corporates while reducing its footprint to one mainland base. BKL's China offering covers data privacy, HR and labour, corporate, fair trade, IP, trade, M&A, dispute resolution and liquidation or exit work, according to Bae, Kim & Lee. The last area reflects Korean businesses reassessing their China exposure.
Beijing is becoming the consolidation point as Shanghai loses law firm offices. Sidley and now BKL are concentrating their remaining China operations there instead of in Shanghai, Law.asia reported. Some firms are maintaining their ties. Winston & Strawn took over McDermott Will & Emery's China alliance with local firm Yuanda as McDermott left Asia, The Global Legal Post reported.
The approvals show two ways to reduce a mainland presence. Hughes Hubbard is closing a Beijing office that existed only on paper while handling China work from Los Angeles. BKL is keeping a mainland base and moving it to Beijing. Both leave fewer Western and Korean lawyers stationed on the mainland, with more China work handled from offshore hubs and from Beijing itself.
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