Hopes that Asia could weather the economic slowdown that has hit US and European law firms were dashed this week as Baker & McKenzie and Shearman & Sterling confirmed nearly 50 combined lay-offs in the region’s legal capital, Hong Kong.

The deepest cuts came at Bakers’ Hong Kong practice, widely regarded as the global firm’s most successful office, which told Legal Week it had made 40 members of staff redundant, plus at least five corporate associates from its 200-lawyer local practice.