Holland & Knight is to close its Abu Dhabi office, the US firm's sole base in the Middle East, as part of a strategic re-focus on domestic and Latin American markets, Legal Week can reveal.

The office closure, set to go ahead in the next few months, leaves the firm without a presence outside the Americas, and provides further evidence of the difficulties facing international firms in maintaining a lasting presence in the Middle East region.

Currently, the firm has four partners who work in the Abu Dhabi office, which was launched in 2008.

Three of those partners – George Howell, Andrew Stephenson and Bob Grammig – split their time between the UAE base and offices in the US, while senior counsel Merhnoosh Ayanpour also splits her time between Abu Dhabi, New York and Washington DC.

Stephen Hunt, an English-qualified lawyer who joined the firm from Al Tamimi & Company two years ago, is understood to be moving to another firm.

"We are assisting our Abu Dhabi attorneys and staff during this transition, and wish them the best in their future endeavours," Holland & Knight said in a statement.

When Hunt joined, the Abu Dhabi office counted five other partners, including Howell.

Since then, Michael Cavanaugh has relocated to Washington DC, whilst Wayne Gray, Joseph McDonough and Marc Sukkar have left the firm.

Corporate partner Donald Moore, who helped launch the practice along with Gray in 2008, left to join Reed Smith in 2011.

The Miami-headquartered firm, which posted revenues of $627m (£368m) in 2013, said it would continue to service Gulf-based clients in the Gulf through other offices.

"In keeping with our strategic priorities, we are focusing on expansion in the Western Hemisphere," a firm spokesperson told Legal Week. 

"We have experienced significant growth in the US and Latin America over the past two years and expect to continue to do so, both in opening new offices and in adding highly qualified lawyers in existing offices."

Earlier this month, the firm opened an office in Anchorage, Alaska.

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