The slow collapse of global legal giant King & Wood Mallesons’ aspirations in Europe were chronicled in an autopsy by The American Lawyer last month, one that looked at the Asia Pacific firm’s expansion efforts, including its ill-fated combination with London-based SJ Berwin in 2013.
With administration, the U.K. equivalent of bankruptcy court, looming on the horizon for King & Wood Mallesons’ Europe, U.K. and Middle East arm (KWME), the firm put 100 staff members on unpaid leave last week, according to sibling publication Legal Week. In late December, its legacy SJ Berwin arm filed an intention to appoint administrators, even as King & Wood Mallesons’ Chinese parent entity sought to hold on to some banking and corporate functions in London and absorb some international offices throughout Europe and the Middle East. (KWME filed a second notice this week.)
