Chinese law firm AllBright Law Offices may open an office in the UK before the year ends.
According to a report from
The Law Society Gazette, the BigLaw firm had a delegate of nine lawyers in the UK last week to explore potential locations.
AllBright is also said to be considering a partnership with a UK firm.
AllBright is one of the
top law firms in China by revenue, posting a gross of RMB1.3b (about $256m) for the 2015 fiscal year.
The figure helped AllBright secure sixth place in the top 10 behind
Dentons, King & Wood Mallesons and Zhong Lun and tied with Grandall and Jung He.
According to the
Gazette, Yu Bingguang, an Allbright partner based in Shanghai, confirmed that the resolution to open a UK office was passed earlier this year by the firm’s 370 partners.
The resolution has also been confirmed by AllBright’s executive committee.
“We want to consolidate our strong position in China as clients are increasingly demanding cross-border legal services,” the partner told the publication.
Furthermore, the partner implies that AllBright is not bearish on the UK because of the decision to leave the European Union.
He said that the Brexit vote also presented an “opportunity” for the law firm despite the plan to open an office in the UK being agreed even before the referendum.
“The time zone makes it good for doing business and for centuries it has been the financial centre. This cannot be taken away overnight,” Bingguang said.
AllBright has 16 offices in China and employs more than 1,500 lawyers.
