Eversheds prepares ground for imminent Beijing launch

Eversheds first announced that it was going to open an office in Beijing in September 2010 (13 September 2010), after dispatching company commercial head Peter Halpin (now client service director) and head of international Stephen Hopkins to China to draw up a business case for the launch. At the time, Eversheds predicted that it would be on the ground in Beijing at some point in 2011.

This timeline has now been revised, with managing partner Lee Ranson saying that that the firm would launch its Beijing office at some point during 2012. No specific reason was given for the delay.

The Lawyer understands that the firm has already secured preliminary approval to launch the office from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice but that it is still awaiting approval from the country’s Ministry of Justice. A spokeswoman for Eversheds said that the firm’s licence application was expected to be approved “imminently”.

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