Linklaters is set to make its long-awaited move into Chinese law with a team of almost 20 lawyers breaking off to set up a new ‘best friends’ firm in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FTZ). Start a 3-day Trial Now Subscribe Today Already a subscriber? Sign In Now
Linklaters is to open a practice in China staffed with 19 lawyers from its existing Chinese office in a long-awaited move by the firm. Technically The an independent practice in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FTZ) the new office will operate alongside Linklaters on a "best friends" basis and the agreement between the two is expected to be finalised in two to three months. Chinese regulations state foreign law firms can only open representative offices in China and are restricted from offering Chinese legal advice, however, the 2013 Shanghai FTZ scheme circumvented this.