Herbert Smith has offered to send financial support to the three trainees it seconded to the Tokyo office earlier this month, to return to the UK .
Ashurst has temporarily relocated its Tokyo staff to Singapore and Hong Kong until the situation improves in Japan.
Norton Rose has kept its Tokyo office open, but has offered staff the option to temporarily relocate to Australia and Hong Kong – a choice to be exercised at their own discretion. Freshfields have similarly kept its doors open during this time.
A spokeswoman at Clifford Chance told ALB that approximately 118 staff based in Tokyo – including 13 partners, 59 lawyers and 47 business support staff – have been affected by the closure. “We have no immediate plans for an evacuation, though some staff have preferred to leave Tokyo and we have been supportive of that. Many of our staff are Japanese nationals; many others married to Japanese nationals and are long-term residents of the country and have no desire to leave Japan,” she said.