US firm Jones Day Reavis & Pogue is boosting its international presence by sending two international securities specialists to Sydney and expanding its Frankfurt office.
Jones Day Washington partners Kevin Cramer and associate Andrew Reilly will move into space at the Sydney office of Australian firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth – a firm with which Jones Day has had a longstanding relationship.
Jones Day's international regional managing partner David Clossey denied that the move was a first step towards setting up a permanent office in the country.
He said that the two lawyers will only stay in the country for the next two or three years.
“Setting up an Australian office is not part of our Asian strategy. There are already plenty of good firms there,” he said.
However, Clossey revealed that Jones Day was looking to make other “significant” moves in the Asian market and said the firm should be ready to make its plans known by October of this year.
Sullivan & Cromwell, Skadden Arps, Baker & McKenzie and Coudert Brothers all have Australian offices.
Meanwhile, the senior partner at Jones Day's Frankfurt office, Karl Herold, said his firm was actively recruiting and was advertising for partners in the German press.
He said he was particularly keen for the intellectual property department to grow but acknowledged it was difficult to lure partners away from German firms.
Clifford Chance has already made significant strides in expanding its German practice over the past year, being the only foreign firm to have any notable success in attracting German lawyers and opening an office in Dusseldorf.
