Linklaters to close Bucharest office, but continue activities

British law firm Linklaters, number two on the global law market, will close its Bucharest office on November 1, along with those in Budapest, Bratislava and Prague, but aims to build a new structure that covers all four markets. Four of the London-based firm’s partners who work in the region will be “transferred” to form an independent regional firm that will continue to work with Linklaters via a “best-friends” type of partnership. The four offices currently number 125 lawyers, 25 of which work in Romania. The decision to close the above-mentioned offices was made as a result of the change in global strategy in order to focus primarily on large markets like Russia and Turkey, without establishing a direct presence in the form of an office. Linklaters’ move goes against the trend on the Romanian market, where White&Case opened its own office last year and Allen & Overy, another law market giant signed a partnership with local RTPR firm last week to do business here.