The Lawyer newspaper reports that Mr Meng’s resignation leaves the firm’s Shanghai office with only two partners.
The news comes just days after the resignation of Moscow-based Europe litigation head Dmitry Kurochkin, who defected to Dechert in Moscow.

Merger discussions

Mr Meng – who is yet to announce his next career move – had been with the firm since 2000, when he joined from the Hong Kong office of US law firm Sidley Austin.
Herbert Smith is currently in merger discussions with Australian practice Freehills, with the result of a partnership vote expected later this week.