Bloomberg Law
Feb. 28, 2020, 8:33 PM

Latham Cancels Partners Meeting Amid Coronavirus Concerns

Meghan Tribe
Meghan Tribe
Reporter

Latham & Watkins has canceled its global partners meeting scheduled to take place next week in New York as concern spreads about coronavirus infection.

“After careful consideration, and with the health and well-being of our colleagues and clients foremost in mind, we made the difficult decision to cancel our global partners meeting,” said its chair and managing partner Rich Trobman in a statement.

“While we perceive the risks to be small, safety is our first priority, and we thought this decision was in the best interests of all concerned given the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19.”

With the move, Latham becomes the latest Big Law firm to cancel firm activities and non-essential travel amid growing concern over the spread of the coronavirus.

The firm, which raked in $3.76 billion in the most recently released reports by AmLaw, has roughly 2,720 attorneys around the world, including a presence in Europe and Asia.

Coronavirus has roiled financial markets in recent weeks and caused businesses to rethink policies around travel and remote work.

To contact the reporter on this story: Meghan Tribe in New York at mtribe@bloomberglaw.com

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jessie Kokrda Kamens at jkamens@bloomberglaw.com; Rebekah Mintzer at rmintzer@bloomberglaw.com