London’s Allen & Overy Pulls Out of Toronto

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Summary: With the only partner in the Toronto office of Allen & Overy moving to an in-house position, the London-based firm has decided to close the office.

Despite only opening their Toronto office a year ago, London-based Allen & Overy announced they are closing the location. The sole partner in the office has accepted an in-house role and will be leaving the legal giant.

  

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Corporate partner Francois Duquette is a French-speaking Canadian that first started the firm’s Casablanca office before relocating to Toronto last year. He is taking an in-house position with Caisse de Depot et de Placement du Quebec, a Canadian pension fund giant.

With Duquette gone, the location would only be left with a senior associate and office manager. The firm has decided to officially close the office and continue to serve its Canadian clients through established relationships at other firms. Allen & Overy was doing this prior to creating a Toronto office. They have not been practicing local law anyways.

Duquette joined the firm in 2007 in Abu Dhabi from Simmons & Simmons. He specializes in banking, corporate, and finance matters. In 2011, he moved from the Abu Dhabi office to start the Casablanca office.

Other Am Law 100 firms have been growing in Canada with Littler Mendelson opening its first Canadian office in Toronto and DLA Piper opening a Toronto office.

Source: http://www.americanlawyer.com/id=1202738500458/Allen–Overy-Shuttering-YearOld-Toronto-Base

Photo: allenovery.com