Fighting Expenses and Competition, Some Firms Rethink China Strategies

For an indication of what’s driving U.S. law firms’ China practices, consider dueling strategies recently announced by two law firms.

Winston & Strawn acknowledged this week that it shuttered its office in Beijing, as well as in Taipei, and is moving some of those lawyers into its Shanghai and Hong Kong offices. The closures took place in late 2016, and were first reported by The Lawyer.

“I would not consider it closing an office, we consolidated our offices,” said Tom Fitzgerald, chairman of Winston & Strawn, who is based in Chicago. “The cost to keep those offices up and running, [given] the revenue we ...