By Richard Tromans
Philadelphia-firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius has closed its Singapore and Jakarta offices.
The two offices, which opened in 1996, were formally closed at the end of December.
The three-partner Singapore office was severely damaged when rainmaker and office managing partner, Bertie Mehigan, defected to White & Case last September.
It is believed that when syndicated loans specialist Mehigan left the Singapore office, he took many of its top clients with him, substantially cutting its profitability.
Two other Morgan Lewis Singapore partners, Jake Redway and Mark Nelson, who helped run the Jakarta operation, have both opted to remain in Singapore and leave the firm for Latham & Watkins' office there rather than return to the US.
The Jakarta closure, although linked to the Singapore closure, has also been driven by the political turmoil in Indonesia and Nelson's move to Lathams. One remaining local associate has now also found work elsewhere.
A Morgan Lewis spokesperson said: "We are still exploring our options in Asia and the firm still does work for clients out there.
Leading Dutch firm Nauta Dutilh also recently closed its office in Jakarta due to the political strife, although Clifford Chance has just set up an association with Jakarta firm Mochtar Karuwin & Komar.
Morgan Lewis now has international offices in London, Brussels, Frankfurt and a small presence in Tokyo.
A source close to the firm said: "The firm is trying to restructure its US operations at the expense of its foreign offices, and is committed to rapidly improving equity partner remuneration."
The source added that although foreign operations were on a back-burner, the London office would be kept running as the firm could not afford to lose face by closing it.
A Morgan Lewis spokesperson said the firm was committed to expanding the London office, which has six partners.