The California legal market continues to attract high-end entrants, with Debevoise & Plimpton opening up shop in San Francisco and Allen & Overy doing the same in Los Angeles, but the COVID-19 pandemic has altered firms’ expectations for new offices.

Firms such as Blank Rome and Jenner & Block have expanded into new cities in the state, while Allen & Overy and Debevoise follow Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, who made their first moves into the state last summer with openings in Northern California. Yet none of these firms face immediate pressure to build their new offices into hubs for dozens of attorneys and staff.