Political tension and economic turbulence have seen more law firms retrench in the wider European region, with Chadbourne & Parke and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer both confirming office closures. US firm Chadbourne last month confirmed that it was closing its Kiev office, a move which saw Dentons benefit as it snapped up Kiev-based corporate partner Adam Mycyk. Meanwhile, a pair of Freshfields lawyers have established an IP/IT specialist boutique following the closure of the Magic Circle firm’s Barcelona office in April this year.
Mycyk, who is also the former managing partner for CMS Cameron McKenna’s Kiev office, will join Dentons as a partner in its corporate practice just 18 months after moving to Chadbourne.
The firm’s decision to close its office was due to the ongoing political unrest causing a problematic outlook for the firm’s long-term business in the region.
Managing partner of Chadbourne’s Kiev office, Jaroslawa Zelinsky Johnson, said: ‘The geopolitical situation has been very different since Russia invaded, so the firm has decided to close after 21 years. Lawyers at the office will be relocating while others will be joining other firms.’
‘The geopolitical situation has been very different since Russia invaded Ukraine.’
Jaroslawa Zelinsky Johnson, Chadbourne & Parke
Meanwhile, former Freshfields counsel Sergio Miralles and associate Elena Molina set up the specialist firm Intangibles Legal two months after Freshfields’ Barcelona office shut. The Magic Circle firm said the boutique launch was part of the firm’s strategy to cover IP/IT work in Barcelona with its former lawyers, although the new outfit was not set up under the Freshfields banner.
Its decision to close the Barcelona branch came after Freshfields’ former Barcelona managing partner, Toni Valverde, joined Allen & Overy in February to lead its newly launched office in the region. After Valverde’s exit, Freshfields rolled its Barcelona team into its Madrid office.
In total, the closure affected one counsel, six lawyers and a small number of support staff, who were all made redundant after none accepted the offer to relocate to Madrid. The Madrid base currently houses 11 partners and 117 staff members.
Other firms to close European offices in recent months includes transatlantic firm Hogan Lovells, which withdrew from Prague due to difficult market conditions and a ‘strategic view of the market’. It came weeks after Norton Rose Fulbright announced that it was exiting the Prague market due to ‘difficult market conditions’ with effect from 1 May.
sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk