Shearman & Sterling will wind down its office in Seoul following an internal review of “strategic priorities,” a Shearman spokesperson said ahead of the firm’s planned merger with Allen & Overy.  

The integrated firm, Allen Overy Shearman Sterling, if approved by a partner vote expected to take place in October, will have an office in the South Korean capital, the spokesperson said.

The lawyers at Shearman’s Seoul office already have arrangements in place, and the closure is not connected to the proposed merger, the spokesperson added.

The former leader of Shearman’s Korea outpost Anna Chung, who also helped set up the office, took her practice to Ashurst in May.  

Shearman’s Korea practice will continue to operate from its international offices, particularly its Asian offices in Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong, with its New York and London branches also playing a key role, the spokesperson said.

Shearman opened its Seoul outpost in 2019 and has focused on advising Korean clients on a full range of project-related work across the power, LNG, oil and gas and petrochemical spectrum.

The merger plan with A&O was announced in May. The tie-up would be one of the largest law-firm mergers in recent years, resulting in a firm with around 3,900 lawyers across 49 offices worldwide.