{"id":133697,"date":"2025-09-22T17:03:30","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T01:03:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/09\/22\/top-50-biglaw-firm-shuts-down-an-office-in-china\/"},"modified":"2025-09-22T17:03:30","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T01:03:30","slug":"top-50-biglaw-firm-shuts-down-an-office-in-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/09\/22\/top-50-biglaw-firm-shuts-down-an-office-in-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 50 Biglaw Firm Shuts Down An Office In China"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Biglaw firms continue to shutter their offices in China like it\u2019s going out of style. Today, we have news on the ninth large law firm to close the doors of a Chinese office in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>As noted by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.com\/international-edition\/2025\/09\/19\/kl-gates-set-to-close-beijing-office-staff-offered-severance-packages\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Law.com International<\/a>, K&amp;L Gates \u2014 a firm that brought in $1,327,801,000 gross revenue in 2024, putting it at No. 44 on the most recent Am Law 100 \u2014 will close its Beijing office, which it first launched in 2004. The firm plans to retain its Hong Kong and Shanghai offices, with Shanghai absorbing Beijing\u2019s work. A firm spokesperson issued the following statement:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cThe firm\u2019s new leadership team has recently undertaken a strategic review of our global operations, including our real estate footprint, with the ultimate goals of aligning resources with client demand, strengthening our high-performance culture, and staying e\ufb03cient. As part of this review, we have decided to consolidate our Beijing o\ufb03ce into our Shanghai office. We will retain our full-service capabilities in China, including our robust corporate, regulatory, and IP practices, and remain committed to serving Chinese clients and our global clients who have legal needs in China from our Shanghai and Hong Kong o\ufb03ces and in collaboration with our broad network of o\ufb03ces across the Asian continent and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>While some lawyers at K&amp;L\u2019s Beijing office were offered the opportunity to relocate to another office, other staff members have reportedly been offered severance packages.<\/p>\n<p>Which Biglaw firm will be the next say z\u00e0iji\u00e0n to its offices in China? You can\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:tips@abovethelaw.com?subject=%5BFirm%20Name%5D%20China%20Office%20Closure\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">email us<\/a>\u00a0or text us (<a href=\"tel:646-820-8477\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">646-820-8477<\/a>) if you have any intel. Thank you.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.com\/international-edition\/2025\/09\/19\/kl-gates-set-to-close-beijing-office-staff-offered-severance-packages\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">K&amp;L Gates Set to Close Beijing Office, Staff Offered Severance Packages<\/a> [Law.com International]<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/Staci-Zaretsky.jpg?w=1080&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Staci Zaretsky\" class=\"wp-image-441281\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/author\/staci-zaretsky\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to <a href=\"mailto:staci@abovethelaw.com\">email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/stacizaretsky.bsky.social\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/stacizaretsky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.threads.net\/@stacizaretsky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/staci-zaretsky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/09\/top-50-biglaw-firm-shuts-down-an-office-in-china\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Top 50 Biglaw Firm Shuts Down An Office In China<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-single__featured-image post-single__featured-image--medium alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/05\/china-lock-GettyImages-1255628951-300x200.jpg?resize=300%2C200&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<p>Biglaw firms continue to shutter their offices in China like it\u2019s going out of style. Today, we have news on the ninth large law firm to close the doors of a Chinese office in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>As noted by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.com\/international-edition\/2025\/09\/19\/kl-gates-set-to-close-beijing-office-staff-offered-severance-packages\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Law.com International<\/a>, K&amp;L Gates \u2014 a firm that brought in $1,327,801,000 gross revenue in 2024, putting it at No. 44 on the most recent Am Law 100 \u2014 will close its Beijing office, which it first launched in 2004. The firm plans to retain its Hong Kong and Shanghai offices, with Shanghai absorbing Beijing\u2019s work. A firm spokesperson issued the following statement:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cThe firm\u2019s new leadership team has recently undertaken a strategic review of our global operations, including our real estate footprint, with the ultimate goals of aligning resources with client demand, strengthening our high-performance culture, and staying e\ufb03cient. As part of this review, we have decided to consolidate our Beijing o\ufb03ce into our Shanghai office. We will retain our full-service capabilities in China, including our robust corporate, regulatory, and IP practices, and remain committed to serving Chinese clients and our global clients who have legal needs in China from our Shanghai and Hong Kong o\ufb03ces and in collaboration with our broad network of o\ufb03ces across the Asian continent and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>While some lawyers at K&amp;L\u2019s Beijing office were offered the opportunity to relocate to another office, other staff members have reportedly been offered severance packages.<\/p>\n<p>Which Biglaw firm will be the next say z\u00e0iji\u00e0n to its offices in China? You can\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#4b3f223b380b2a29243d2e3f232e272a3c6528242674383e29212e283f766e7e090d2239266e797b052a262e6e7e0f6e797b082322252a6e797b042d2d22282e6e797b082724383e392e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">email us<\/a>\u00a0or text us (<a href=\"tel:646-820-8477\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">646-820-8477<\/a>) if you have any intel. Thank you.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.com\/international-edition\/2025\/09\/19\/kl-gates-set-to-close-beijing-office-staff-offered-severance-packages\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">K&amp;L Gates Set to Close Beijing Office, Staff Offered Severance Packages<\/a> [Law.com International]<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/Staci-Zaretsky.jpg?w=1080&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Staci Zaretsky\" class=\"wp-image-441281\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/author\/staci-zaretsky\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#fd8e899c9e94bd9c9f928b98899598919c8ad39e9290\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/stacizaretsky.bsky.social\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/stacizaretsky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.threads.net\/@stacizaretsky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/staci-zaretsky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Biglaw firms continue to shutter their offices in China like it\u2019s going out of style. Today, we have news on the ninth large law firm to close the doors of a Chinese office in 2025. As noted by Law.com International, K&amp;L Gates \u2014 a firm that brought in $1,327,801,000 gross revenue in 2024, putting it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":133698,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Staci-Zaretsky-7FFHLP.jpg?fit=150%2C100&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}