Even as one international firm, Dentons, is doubling down on China through its tie-up with the country’s largest firm, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson has effectively pulled out of Asia.
Fried Frank’s chairman, David Greenwald, flew to Hong Kong in January to inform partners that the firm’s Hong Kong and Shanghai offices, which a source with knowledge of the situation said are operating at a loss, would be wound down over the coming months. The firm will maintain service offices there and will retain its Chinese practice license, but will be unlikely to employ full-time fee-earners in the region.
