A&O considers job cuts in Hong Kong review
Allen & Overy (A&O) is restructuring its Hong Kong office, with a number of lawyers at risk of redundancy. The firm is in discussions with staff about potential job cuts, but it is also considering options including short and long-term secondments to other offices. A&O refused to be drawn on how many positions are under threat but confirmed that it is reviewing the office in the wake of the departure of a seven-partner corporate team, including Asia corporate chief Michael Liu and China group head Kenneth Chan, to Latham & Watkins last year.
January 16, 2009 at 10:16 AM
2 minute read
Allen & Overy (A&O) is restructuring its Hong Kong office, with a number of lawyers at risk of redundancy.
The firm is in discussions with staff about potential job cuts, but it is also considering options including short and long-term secondments to other offices.
A&O refused to be drawn on how many positions are under threat but confirmed that it is reviewing the office in the wake of the departure of a seven-partner corporate team, including Asia corporate chief Michael Liu and China group head Kenneth Chan, to Latham & Watkins last year.
The October exodus, which represented one of the most significant departures ever seen from the foreign network of a magic circle firm, left A&O with just four corporate partners in Hong Kong. The team was highly regarded and Liu and Chan had landed a number of big-ticket mandates for A&O's corporate practice, including helping the firm to become the first London-based adviser on the Beijing Olympics in 2002.
In a statement A&O said: "Our business in Hong Kong is undergoing a restructuring in view of the departure of seven partners and exceptionally difficult market conditions. In any restructuring the interests of our people are paramount. We are still exploring a number of options with our people and due to this we are not able to comment further."
The firm said the potential job cuts only affect the Hong Kong office.
In the wake of Clifford Chance's job cuts last week (8 January), it is understood that A&O posted a message on its intranet warning staff that it could not rule out future redundancies.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Can Law Firms Avoid Landing on the 'Enemy' List During the Trump Administration?
5 minute read
Letter From Asia: Will Big Law Ever Bother to Understand Asia Again?
Simpson Thacher, Nishimura, Mori Hamada Assist on KKR's $4B Winning Bid in Japan
Trending Stories
- 1Meet Delaware's Incoming Lt. Gov.: 'It's a Natural Progression' From Litigation to Policy
- 2Class Action Settlements Totaled $40B+ Three Years in a Row: 'We’re in a New Era'
- 3Automaker Pleads Guilty and Agrees to $1.6 Billion in Payouts
- 4MLB's Texas Rangers Search For a New GC and a Broadcasting Deal
- 5Does the Treasury Hack Underscore a Big Problem for the Private Sector?
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
