Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison is to ditch its Paris office – the firm’s only base on the Continent – as the New York leader focuses its European strategy exclusively on its London hub.

The decision to shut the 25-year-old outpost, which is headed by partner Steven Wolfram, has been put down to the success of the firm’s London office launch in 2001, as well as to a desire to build up stronger referral links with top Paris practices.