Coronavirus Closures Sees Lathams Cancel World Conference, But Baker McKenzie Reopens London Office

Fallout from the coronavirus continues as Latham & Watkins calls off its global partnership meeting in New York and in London Baker McKenzie reopens its office, which has over 1000 employees, after an employee had suspected symptoms. They tested negative to the COVID-19.

The Latham conference, due to occur this week with partners coming from its 30 offices globally, was closed after a ‘difficult decision’ was made. Latham chairman Rich Trobman said ‘While we perceive the risks to be small, safety is our first priority, and we thought this decision was in the best interests of all concerned given the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19.’

Latham’s global footprint includes China, where more than 78,000 people have been infected by the virus, as well as South Korea, Japan and Italy, which have respectively seen at least 600 reported coronavirus cases.

Shearman & Sterling has imposed a travel ban for China and Hong Kong, limiting non-essential travel to contaminated jurisdictions and putting in place remote working measures. Dentons has temporarily closed its office in Wuhan, where the virus originated.