Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe has launched a China practice by taking the rump of Coudert Brothers' local branch, although highly-rated regional managing partner Jingzhou Tao is not included in the nine-partner team.

The San Francisco firm has hired Coudert partners out of its Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing branches, including a six-partner Hong Kong team headed my office chief Sook Young Yeu, and including Edward Fung, David Halperin, Martin Robinson, Neal Stender, Christopher Stephens and Adrian Yip.

Other hires include Shanghai sole partner Landon Prieur and Beijing-based Hugh Scogin.

Three partners, including Coudert executive board member and China head Tao, are not included in the deal.

The hires will give Orrick its first presence in China with offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing, although it must secure the go-ahead from the country's regulatory authorities before officially launching the practice.

Orrick has already filed its own application to open in China, but it will attempt to transfer Coudert's existing China licence to its own name.

Coudert resolved to wind down the firm last week and is attempting to find homes for its extensive network with an array of firms in the frame to snap up parts of the network.

Earlier this summer Coudert was rocked by the decision of the firm's London and Moscow partnerships to jump ship to Orrick.