Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld is to close its Taiwan office and is reviewing the future of its Silicon Valley branch after the departure of rainmaker Yitai Hu, writes The Recorder.

Hu, a patent litigator with a number of major Taiwanese clients, will leave the firm by the end of next month.

The departure apparently came after Hu, who oversaw the launch of both offices in 2005 and has split his time between the two branches ever since, expressed interest in returning to his native Taiwan more permanently. Akin Gump chairman Bruce McLean said such a move would not have make economic sense for the firm and that the firm didn't want Hu so far away from his clients' major patent cases in the US.

Commenting on the news, McLean said: "We had a meeting here in Washington DC last Friday [and] have decided that we are going to part company. He is the predominant business developer in [the Taiwan] office. Over the course of the next several weeks we will assess the impact of Yitai's leaving."

The fate of the Taiwan office, which has nine patent professionals, will remain in Hu's hands since it was working primarily for his clients. However, it will not fly an Akin Gump flag.

Sean DeBruine, managing partner of the firm's 10-lawyer Silicon Valley arm, added: "It's up in the air. I think everybody here is looking at their options."

The firm opened the Silicon Valley and Taiwan offices in 2005 when Hu joined the firm – along with DeBruine – from Shaw Pittman. Before that, he worked for Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner.

DeBruine said the firm may continue to work alongside Hu on certain cases, commenting: "I think he's an excellent lawyer [with] great instincts. I don't know that this is the end of our association."