Legal Week (UK) is reporting that USA firm Dorsey & Whitney has decided to pull up stumps and head home after 5 years in Sydney…
Here’s the link and report
Dorsey & Whitney to close Sydney office at end of the year
Minneapolis-based firm Dorsey & Whitney is to close its office in Sydney at the end of the year.
The base, which is the US firm’s only office in Australia, managed by one partner, will shut its doors in December after five years of operation.
Head of the office John Chrisman, a US capital markets and M&A lawyer, intends to relocate to Hong Kong in January shortly after the closure.
A partner with the firm since 2005, he will continue to head the firm’s India and Australia practices.
Dorsey & Whitney is a Minnesota firm with 19 offices in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia.
It opened its Australian office in 2009 in a bid to better serve Asian clients from India and Greater China, adding to its existing network of Asia offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Dorsey said at the time of the launch that the firm had no intention to practise Australian law but wanted to build its relationships with domestic outfits.
The firm declined to comment on the precise reasons behind the closure.
However, managing partner Ken Cutler said in a statement: “The firm is committed to the Asia-Pacific region and to serving our clients throughout that region and the world efficiently and effectively.
“Relocating John Chrisman and his sophisticated M&A and capital markets practice to Hong Kong will strengthen the platform and enable us to better serve our clients in the region.”
International law firms with offices in Australia have come under press in the last year following a downturn in the M&A market, an influx of new firms and a wave of international mergers.
Many outfits have been forced to downsize their office space or cut back on staff numbers, with DLA Piper, Clayton Utz and King & Wood Mallesons among those hit
