Matthew Carlson, the firm's only full-time lawyer in San Francisco, is leaving. (Photo: Jason Doiy, The Recorder)

SAN FRANCISCO — Lichten & Liss-Riordan, the Boston-based employment firm that has gone toe-to-toe with the gig economy, is shuttering its San Francisco office two years after opening up shop in the city.

The decision to close the office comes after its only full-time lawyer, Matthew Carlson, left the firm and moved back to New York to be closer to family, name partner Shannon Liss-Riordan said in an email.

Carlson will still continue with the firm on an of counsel basis, Liss-Riordan added. He had been involved in a number of major cases brought by the firm, including those against Uber Technologies Inc., Lyft Inc. and Grubhub.

Lichten & Liss-Riordan opened its office in San Francisco in spring of 2016, not long after the firm announced an $84 million settlement with Uber on behalf of drivers in California and Massachusetts. That deal was subsequently rejected by a federal judge, and the case has been tied up in appeals since.

While Liss-Riordan successfully settled the case against Lyft for $27 million, she has faced challenges in other cases against gig-economy companies. Earlier this year, a magistrate judge ruled against her client in a worker misclassification case against food delivery app company Grubhub.

Liss-Riordan said the decision to close the office was not a sign that her firm is giving up the fight, though. “We're still very involved in this litigation,” she said. “I am still in California myself frequently and expect to continue to be there often.”

She added that the firm is also “talking with other lawyers who may be associated with us out of California.”