Spanish law firm Cuatrecasas has closed its office in Beijing, marking a strategic shift as the firm now maintains its sole Asian presence in Shanghai. Established in 2017, the Beijing office once played a key role in the firm’s China strategy, but it has since been removed from the firm’s website. The office’s managing partner, Pablo Cubel, has relocated to Madrid. The closure underscores the firm’s reevaluation of its aspirations in China, which were temporarily invigorated in 2023 when Cuatrecasas appointed Sandra Costas as its director of China offices, following her hiring from Hong Kong’s Carpag Investment Management.
Costas, along with the firm’s Shanghai-based dispute resolution partner Omar Puertas, has been working to reinforce Cuatrecasas’ footprint in Asia amidst challenging geopolitical and market conditions. The firm’s Shanghai office, active since 2007, remains vital in handling cross-border M&A, commercial transactions, and tax matters. Despite an initial enthusiasm for the post-Covid reopening of China, ongoing geopolitical tensions have led many international law firms, including Cuatrecasas, to reassess their presence in the region.