Leading international law firms including Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Linklaters and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom are re-shaping or re-positioning their Russian practices in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.

Firms are re-pivoting transactional teams towards Asia and downsizing or relocating junior lawyers to other offices since the US and EU began imposing sanctions on Russia this summer.

Skadden is reviewing its approach to advising clients affected by the sanctions, which have prohibited a number of corporates and banks from accessing European or US capital markets.

In June, London managing partner and former Russia practice head Pranav Trivedi and lawyers from the Moscow office went on a roadshow of the firm's banking clients and offices in Asia to gauge interest for alternative venues for dealmaking.

That month, the firm advised the Russian state-backed Gazprom on its June Singapore Stock Exchange listing, widely seen by the market as a symbolic act of defiance in the face of blocks on capital raisings and listings in Western markets.

Linklaters, meanwhile, is planning to increase its programme of intra-office secondments and transfers for its lawyers, with at least five associates from the magic circle firm's Moscow office having been relocated to London and elsewhere in the firm's network since May.

The magic circle outfit is also one of several international firms to have used lawyers in Moscow to carry out work on behalf of its other offices.

Skadden – which declined to comment – is not alone in tapping its network of Asian offices to match the shifting flow of global trade.

"The top people at Sberbank and VTB are on planes eastward at the moment," says the head of one firm's Moscow office. "I had coffee with the CFO of a banking client hit by the sanctions this week – they are now looking to Beijing, and I've put him in touch with my colleagues in China."

Another leading Russian M&A partner comments that "when you go to Hong Kong and Beijing now you see a lot more bankers and lawyers on the flights".

"It hasn't translated into the same amount of activity – you can't replace London listings with Hong Kong, for example – but everyone in Moscow is now spending a lot more time in China," he added.

"Russian companies are now more interested in raising money in Asia, and finding partners for joint ventures and investment from Asian countries," says Allen & Overy's Moscow head Edwin Tham. "International firms without a credible Asian offering may eventually find themselves at a disadvantage when pitching for financing and transactional work."

As well as depressed business appetite for inbound and outbound dealmaking, some firms are facing the prospect of being unable to act for the dozens of sanctioned companies and individuals.

"Firms are exposed to varying degrees," says one firm's local managing partner. "[But] at the moment sanctions do not prohibit firms from working with many clients, only raising money."

"The US and EU sanctions do not create a complete blackout," agrees Cleary Gottlieb partner Russell Pollack. "Some sanctions do prohibit any kind of dealings with certain entities and individuals, but many of the sanctions are limited in scope, and expressly do not prohibit all dealings with the entities or sectors concerned.

"We are advising both Russian and non-Russian clients on what can be done in accordance with the different types of sanctions."

Cleary – which is also one of the main legal advisers to the Russian Government – has allowed the total numbers of lawyers in its Moscow office "to decline somewhat by natural attrition".

However, Pollack stresses that four associate exits from the Moscow office since May had nothing to do with current political events, and that there "has been no major downsizing".

While no offices closures have so far been announced, several market commentators believe sanctions will force some firms to exit Russia. However, there are pockets of cautious optimism in the market.

"In terms of ongoing transactions, the preparatory work continues apace, in the expectation that the overall market environment will improve," comments Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's Moscow managing partner Mikhail Loktionov. "But the intensity has certainly reduced, because the market has been in a wait-and-see mode.

"We are in this market for the long-term, and we are not taking any drastic steps with long-term consequences."