Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe is shuttering its Hong Kong office at the end of August, three years after overhauling its strategy for the Asian financial hotbed.

After losing the bulk of its Hong Kong capital markets team in early 2017, the firm aimed to rebuild its presence in the city by focusing on attorneys who could complement its global strengths in technology and innovation along with several other key sectors. But CEO Mitch Zuklie said the firm failed to achieve the growth that it sought.

"There's a lot of international firms in Hong Kong, the China-based firms are increasingly competitive, and we just don't think that—while our team was strong—we were able to penetrate the market with the same success we've had in other markets, including those in Asia."

The firm retains Asian offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei and Tokyo.

Zuklie said the firm had evaluated the issue for over a year and made the decision to close the office well before COVID-19 emerged from Wuhan, China, in January. The outbreak prompted the firm to postpone the announcement, but with the firm's lease in Hong Kong expiring in June, a public announcement became necessary.

"We're glad to see that many firms have reopened in Hong Kong," Zuklie added.

The firm intends to secure temporary space to support lawyers and clients in a longer transition.

Mitch Zuklie, Orrick chairman and chief executive officer. (Photo: Jason Doiy/ALM) Mitch Zuklie, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe chairman and chief executive officer. (Photo: Jason Doiy/ALM)

Orrick's Hong Kong team currently consists of four partners and seven other lawyers and trainees with expertise in private investment funds, regional M&A and local disputes. There are also 10 support staffers.

"They are high-quality people, and I expect to see them come aboard in other firms that are investing in Hong Kong," Zuklie said.

Orrick first entered Hong Kong in 2005 by taking over a legacy Coudert Brothers office in the city following the latter's dissolution. The next year, the firm began building out its capital markets team with the hire of Edwin Luk from O'Melveny & Myers. But when Luk, who had served as the firm's global head of capital markets, and a team of eight other partners decamped for Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in January 2017, the firm made the decision to exit the practice and pivot to a focus on its three core industry sectors: tech, energy and infrastructure, and finance.

Zuklie remains bullish on Orrick's wider presence in Asia, emphasizing its intellectual property practice in China, the firm's M&A efforts in the region, and work on CFIUS reviews of foreign investment in the U.S.

And the firm retains an interest in Singapore, which has been the case since Zuklie took the reins in 2013.

"It's significant for energy and infrastructure, international arbitration, and tech, and it's a gateway to Southeast Asia," he said. "It's a market we're paying close attention to."

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