Morrison & Foerster has decided it will not continue to maintain a traditional office in Miami, the law firm said, five years after announcing its first hires in the city.
A Morrison Foerster spokesperson told Reuters that the San Francisco-founded firm will "transition to a flexible office space model" after its lease in a downtown Miami skyscraper expires at the end of 2024.
The firm, which does not use a similar model in any of its nine other U.S. offices, said it does not consider the move to be an office closure.
"This shift will better align with our current office space needs and enable us to continue delivering excellent service to our clients in South Florida, Latin America and beyond," the spokesperson said. The firm declined further comment.
Morrison Foerster launched in Miami in 2019 with a group of nine lawyers from Miami-founded international firm Greenberg Traurig.
Three of the four partners in that original group have since left for other firms, leaving only the firm's Latin America practice co-leader Randy Bullard. Enrique Conde and Alexandra Aguirre joined Tampa-founded national firm Holland & Knight in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Juan Delgado in 2022 joined Chicago-founded Sidley Austin.
Morrison Foerster currently lists 13 Miami lawyers on its website, including Bullard and four other full or part-time Florida partners. Its most recent Miami partner hire was in September 2023, when Linda Clark, a privacy and data security specialist, joined from information and analytics firm RELX. Its current office is at 600 Brickell Ave.
A handful of prominent law firms made entrances into Miami in 2022, including Kirkland & Ellis, King & Spalding, Winston & Strawn and Sidley. Some firms, including Cooley and Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, opened offices in 2023, though new activity has notably slowed down.
Miami's attraction to out-of-state law firms grew during the pandemic, as tech companies and executives, bankers and fund managers moved into the state from New York and elsewhere. Florida has long been home to a few large law firms, and has served as a bridge for U.S. lawyers working with Latin American clients.
Legal recruiters said Miami's relatively smaller legal market, and sometimes differing billing rate expectations, can pose challenges to out-of-state firms.
"It's very different from the talent market that firms are used to in New York or L.A. or Houston or Chicago," said Dareth Finn, a Florida-based legal recruiter at VOYLegal.
Morrison Foerster said last week that it is winding down its Beijing office as its lease there ends later this year. It said most of its work in China is already being handled by lawyers in Shanghai, Hong Kong and elsewhere.
Several other large U.S. firms have also closed or consolidated offices in China since last year.
