This on Bloomberg yesterday…
Things aren’t looking good for B&M employees in B&M’s China offices which include Hong Kong Beijing & Shanghai… this report suggests that over 10% of professional and support positions may be lost.
It’s an interesting development as a lot of firms have been hoping that China deals will pull out of the current morass. AALE has been somewhat bemused by the confidence others hold in the short term future of the legal market in China. We would argue that people are being far too positive for their own good. Baker & McKenzie’s decision seems to suggest that we may be at least a little bit correct.
Here’s the bloomberg report….
Baker & McKenzie Plans to Cut 11% of Lawyers in China
July 8 (Bloomberg) — Baker & McKenzie LLP, the world’s second-largest law firm by revenue, plans to eliminate 11 percent of its lawyers and professional staff in China because of the “very challenging” economic climate.
“These difficult measures are necessary to ensure our ongoing financial health in an increasingly competitive environment,” the Chicago-based firm said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. A comparable number of secretarial and support staff will be leaving, according to the statement.
Baker didn’t say which practices were affected. The firm has more than 350 lawyers and professional staff in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai, according to a separate statement yesterday on the appointment of five partners in the three cities.
International firms including New York-based Proskauer Rose LLP and London-based Ashurst LLP have opened Hong Kong offices in the past 12 months, drawn by a boom in initial share sales by Chinese companies in the city which raised $40 billion a year in 2006 and 2007
Full article at http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=asbh9kc6yF74
