Baker McKenzie Shuts Down London Office Following Coronavirus Scare
Baker McKenzie is the first major law firm in London to temporarily close its offices due to the outbreak.
February 28, 2020 at 03:39 AM
2 minute read
The firm has more than 1,000 people in London.
Baker McKenzie has closed its London office following the potential outbreak of a case of coronavirus.
The law firm sent its lawyers and staff members to work from home on Thursday after someone at the firm reported feeling unwell upon their return from Northern Italy. The firm has not disclosed whether the individual is being tested in hospital.
The firm will decide over the weekend whether to re-open its 100 New Bridge Street offices on Monday.
The news was first written by RollOnFriday.
The firm's London office houses more than 1,000 lawyers and staff members, including 119 partners.
A spokesperson at the firm said in a statement: "Our priority is the health and wellbeing of our people and our clients and we have asked our London office employees to work from home for the time being while we are taking precautionary measures in response to a potential case of the COVID-19.
"We have a well-established agile working programme – including technology and IT systems for home working – which allows us to take these precautionary measures without impacting our client service delivery."
The news comes after a raft of international law firms closed their Milan offices as a precautionary measure due to the COVID-19 outbreak threatening the region.
Earlier this week, Canary Wharf-headquartered oil giant Chevron closed off its offices due to a suspected coronavirus outbreak as well.
The virus has now spread to 47 countries, infecting at least 82,000 people, and has now killed more than 2,800 people as of Thursday, according to the World Health Organization.
Read More:
More Big Law Firms Respond as the Coronavirus Continues to Spread Globally
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