Almost exactly four months after the collapse of the legacy SJ Berwin business, the EMEA operation rebuilt from its ashes by King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) – dubbed KWM 2.0 – has been hitting the headlines for the wrong reasons.

Since January, the partner exits that brought down the firm's European arm have continued, with seven of the roughly 30 partners who initially agreed to remain with KWM or its affiliated offices leaving in recent weeks.

KWM has been clear from the outset that the new EMEA operation was never intended to be under a diktat from China but, even so, some of the changes look far beyond its control. So what does this mean for the future of the fledgling business?

The exits to date – which equate to roughly 23% of the partners who agreed to stay with the firm in January – span three locations: Italy, Dubai and Saudi Arabia.

Earlier this week, Legal Week reported that KWM disputes partner Ghassan El Daye is leaving the Dubai office to join Charles Russell Speechlys.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, three partners left KWM's affiliated Milan office to join McDermott Will & Emery, including office head and banking and finance partner Giancarlo Castorino. Partners Ettore Scandale and Emidio Cacciapuoti are following Castorino to McDermott, alongside a team of four counsel and 10 fee earners.

With Milan employment partner Andrea Nicodemi also said by one source close to the matter to be leaving KWM to join a local employment boutique alongside three fee earners, KWM looks set to be left with just one partner in Italy – corporate and private equity partner Davide Proverbio. He will be left with a team of around eight lawyers and four staff in Milan.

One former London partner praised the departing team's capabilities: "Castorino and his team were one of the best-performing parts in Europe. I'm less surprised he moved than that he stayed with the firm in the first place. I think it will be hard to keep that office open without him."

It will be months or years before we can talk about what we can do, and not what happened. It's frustrating, and I find the eternal explanations to clients onerous

Partners at KWM in London are understood to have been tied into the relaunched firm for 12 months, but obligations on those in affiliated offices are not as great. This looser arrangement has prompted some former partners to speculate that Madrid – also an affiliated office – could also see exits.

One former KWM Germany partner says: "Those affiliated offices maintain KWM branding, but are owned by the partners as separate units. What happened in Milan could happen in Madrid – I wouldn't exclude the possibility if decisive partners voted in favour of a rebranding."

Another former partner adds: "I would not dismiss the idea that Madrid or the rest of Milan could leave the business. The charm of staying was access to the Chinese market, but if that slows down there isn't as much advantage to being at the firm."

However, the firm says it remains "fully committed" to those offices and there are no current plans to close any bases.

For some of those still with the firm, its relationships with Chinese clients remain attractive.

One continental European partner says: "It is undeniable that Chinese investors are currently looking at European assets and permanently investing here. In the last couple of months I have received at least one instruction per month out of China. If the Chinese partners continue sending work and introducing clients, I think it can be a success."

However, others acknowledge the difficulties they have faced in their efforts to rebuild the brand's reputation in the UK in the wake of the administration.

One comments: "I spoke to a client's general counsel recently, and he asked what happened last year [at the firm]. I think it will be months or even years before we can talk about what we can do, and not what happened. It's frustrating, and I find the eternal explanations to clients onerous."

He admits that some former clients have decided not to work with him following the collapse. "Some clients have chosen not to work with me, even though I am the same person, and that's unpleasant," he says. "All clients have acted rationally. Some clients have decided that for now, if they stayed with us, that would be a difficult explanation to make internally."

KWM China partner Mark Schaub acknowledges that some Chinese clients "perhaps do need to be a bit more reassured".

He adds: "For many Chinese clients, one of our most important selling points is that we have offices in those [European] jurisdictions. We still have those abilities, but obviously there are gaps."

Schaub stresses the positives of the firm's offering in EMEA. It is gradually growing, having made three associate hires in London and one in Frankfurt, and it is in discussions with several potential lateral partners.

With no centralised management (Australia chair Sue Kench was recently appointed as global managing partner, but there are currently no plans to appoint a European managing partner), a higher degree of autocracy is flagged by one partner in continental Europe as a positive for the new firm, as is the higher level of transparency within the slimmed-down businesss.

Speaking to Legal Week about the firm's European capabilities, Kench said: "It is early days for the new firm there but we already have teams working closely together around client opportunities, which will continue to increase as we get to know each other better."

Commenting on the collapse, she says: "You can never be complacent, and we have and will continue to consider lessons learned from the situation with the legacy SJ Berwin firm. We are focused on the closer integration with China and the global KWM network." She adds that, in time, Australian partners will be seconded to Europe and vice versa.

One partner in continental Europe says that during the time of legacy SJ Bewin's collapse, he was approached by more than one US firm about a move, and cites "a human perspective" as one of his reasons for staying.

He elaborates: "The Chinese partners have been very loyal and supportive throughout the storm in the UK – I owe them some loyalty."

The Chinese partnership will be hoping their remaining European partners are equally loyal, as without such sentiments, KWM 2.0′s future looks increasingly precarious.