A&O Shearman to Cut 10% of Partners, Close South Africa Post (1)

A&O Shearman is slashing its global partner count by 10%, shuttering its Johannesburg office, and closing down its consulting business as part of a suite of post-merger changes.

The combined firm has around 800 partners globally. The partner cuts have been communicated with those impacted, according to a person with knowledge of the firm, and will take place by the end of the firm’s financial year.

Hervé Ekué, managing partner at A&O Shearman, called the moves a “difficult but necessary step forward.”

“We never take decisions like this lightly, particularly when they affect our people,” he said in a Friday ...