A trend of downsizing has become evident among big law firms in Philadelphia, specifically, Center City. This phenomenon, largely a reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic, has resulted in a substantial change to the legal landscape, particularly for firms including Dechert, Morgan Lewis, Blank Rome, BakerHostetler, and Fox Rothschild. These firms have either recently downsized or soon will be, resulting in an almost collective loss of 500,000 square feet of office space. Further information about this downsizing can be found in a recent Philadelphia Business Journal article.
Simultaneously, another shift has been seen in the global legal arena where Chinese law firms plan expansions beyond their country’s borders. At least eight large, reputed Chinese law firms including Jingsh Law Firm and Han Kun Law Offices have opened offices in the US and other parts of Asia since the beginning of 2023, with more planned. According to a recent Financial Times article, this indicates the ambition of mainland firms to increase their range of multinational clients.
In other news, Donald Trump’s hush money trial might well benefit from having two lawyers on the jury. This could be particularly advantageous for the former president if his legal team plans to foreground technical legal arguments, considering lawyers’ ability to dissociate emotional aspects from legal facts. You can read about Trump’s trial jury in a recent Politico article.
Lastly, the legal industry has seen a series of notable moves. These include Nancy B. Ryan joining McGuireWoods as a partner in New York, Jeffrey H. McClelland being added to the labor and employment practice at Lewis Brisbois, and Alex Hastings joining Morgan Lewis as a partner with the regulatory practice in Washington, D.C.
These extensive shifts and movements in the legal industry link significant changes domestically and globally, with Philly’s big law offices downsizing and Chinese law firms expanding indicating larger economic and legal trends. The full details of this legal news update were first reported by Bloomberg Law.