U.S. law firm Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe will consolidate its China offering into its Beijing office after deciding not to renew its lease in Shanghai, a spokesperson has confirmed. It has also terminated its lease and operations in Taipei.

Two partners from the Shanghai office, Ethan Ma and Jeffrey Sun, along with two associates and one other staff member, will be affiliated with the Beijing office. Eight other employees (including one associate and one consultant) will be offered market severance. Orrick currently has no resident lawyers in Taipei.

With these closures, Orrick becomes the second U.S. law firm to announce this month that it is consolidating its operations in Greater China. In early March, Perkins Coie announced that it would shutter its Shanghai office while retaining its Beijing office and IP agency business.

In August 2020, Orrick closed its Hong Kong office. The firm currently has offices in Beijing, Singapore, and Tokyo within the Asia-Pacific region.

The Beijing office will continue to provide litigation and IP services, including both U.S. federal court and ITC litigation for Chinese companies, and support with cross-border corporate transactions, the spokesperson noted.

With the relocation of the partners from Shanghai, Orrick's Beijing office will have five partners. "We have recruited two top IP litigators this year who focus on Section 337 matters before the U.S. International Trade Commission as well as federal and state court representation: Josh Pond and Tim Carroll. They will work closely with Xiang Wang, who heads our China IP practice, and Ethan Ma, to serve our Greater China clients. We will also continue our cross-border M&A and venture capital work for Greater China clients," they added.

"These moves reflect a rebalancing of our Asia Pacific platform, including the launch of our Singapore office in 2021, to align with client demand," the spokesperson said. "Going forward, we will continue to support our APAC tech and energy sector clients as they innovate regionally and globally, from our offices in Beijing, Singapore and Tokyo. This approach will enable us to shift greater investment to Singapore and other markets."

They added that while the Beijing office will primarily focus on the tech sector, the Singapore team "is focused on serving the fast-evolving energy transition market throughout South and Southeast Asia, including in collaboration with our Tokyo energy team."