Clifford Chance

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Clifford Chance LLP
Headquarters	London
No. of Offices	28 in 20 countries
No. of Attorneys	3,800+
Major Practice Areas	General practice
Revenue	▲ £1.329 billion
Date Founded	1999 (London)
Company Type	Limited liability partnership
Website	www.cliffordchance.com

Clifford Chance LLP is the largest law firm in the world, both by number of lawyers and revenue, and a component of the UK's "Magic Circle" of leading law firms. It is a prestigious international practice with its principal office at Canary Wharf in London.

Contents 1 Profile 2 History 3 Main practice areas 4 Notable cases tried 5 Worldwide offices 6 Assistance to Guantanamo captives 7 External links 8 Notes

[edit] Profile

Clifford Chance is the largest law firm in the world, both by number of lawyers and revenue, becoming the world's first billion-dollar business law firm (and the biggest-billing law firm ever) in 2006, registering record revenues of $2.039 billion, with partners sharing a profit of $660 million [1]. In the same year, Clifford Chance topped three tables for worldwide M&A, advising on 444 deals globally which were valued at a total of $490 billion, and was named "Law Firm of the Year" at The Lawyer Awards held in London on June 27, 2006 [2].

The firm is also the world's largest by number of lawyers: as of May 2007 it employed 3,857 fee-earners/lawyers (including 617 partners) and about 3620 non-legal staff. It has 28 offices spread across 21 countries in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The firm's London headquarters is 10 Upper Bank Street, which provides a range of amenities to the staff, including a gymnasium, swimming pool, squash courts, medical centre, and other facilities.

In 2002, the firm was infamously ranked last in associate satisfaction in The American Lawyer's annual associate survey. Several associates on the firm's personnel committee then drafted a scathing memorandum outlining their complaints, which was ultimately circulated on the internet. Managing Partner at the time, Peter Cornell, relocated to New York to address many of the concerns mentioned in the memo: as a result the flow of departures was halted, and the firm actually began attracting lateral hires. Clifford Chance was the most improved firm in the next year's survey. [3] Since then, the firm has continued to improve in the annual associate survey. In 2007, it was ranked #29.

Since May 1, 2006, David Childs has been Global Managing Partner of Clifford Chance. Childs took over the role from Peter Cornell for a four-year term. Childs was previously global head of the firm's corporate practice and Global Chief Operating Officer since late 2003. In 2005 he announced his stepping-down from the head of corporate role so that he could concentrate on his global leadership role in the firm, combined with a lead role in major transactions for his clients.

[edit] History

Clifford Chance's origins date back to 1802. However it was the merger of London firms Clifford–Turner and Coward Chance in 1987 which formed the firm as it is today. Neither were first rank law firms, and the merger was derided by some at the time, but it has since been said to have changed the shape and profile of law firms in London and across the world^[1]. Over the next decade, the firm built its practices across Europe and Asia, more than doubling in size. Recognizing the importance of a US law capability, the firm established its New York practice in 1986 and in 1992 became the first major non-US firm to practise US law. Clifford Chance was a New York state registered limited liability partnership, but has now converted into a UK LLP.

In 1999, Clifford Chance merged with one of the largest and most successful German firms, the Frankfurt-based Pünder, Volhard, Weber & Axster, and also with the 1871-established American firm Rogers & Wells. (The use of the Pünder, Volhard, Weber & Axster and Rogers & Wells branding for those European and American regional offices was discontinued in 2003.) In 2002, ɖClifford Chance launched in California with nearly 50 attorneys from the disbanding dot-com firm Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison in Los Angeles, Palo Alto, San Diego and San Francisco. However, with the California economy reeling from dot-com dislocations, the firm shuttered its California operations by 2007 as partners defected to other firms.^[2]

By the end of the twentieth century, Clifford Chance had more lawyers around the world than in the UK. On the back of these successful expansions, its deals and awards through the last decade, Clifford Chance has begun to attract a reputation of being the world's leading international law firm.

[edit] Main practice areas

The firm's main areas of practice are in banking and finance, capital markets, corporate law, real estate and litigation. However, it is active in an extremely broad range of areas. Chambers and Partners lists Clifford Chance as a leading firm in over 30 different practice areas around the world. Some of the practice areas where the firm is ranked "top tier" include^[3]:

• Banking & Finance (in Belgium, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom)
• Capital markets (in Germany, Italy, Singapore and United Kingdom)
• Dispute Resolution (Litigation) (in China, Russia and United Kingdom)
• Private Equity (in Germany, Spain and United Kingdom)
• Projects (in Germany, United Kingdom and globally)
• Real Estate (in France, Germany, Poland, Spain and United Kingdom)

[edit] Notable cases tried

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

[edit] Worldwide offices

[edit] Assistance to Guantanamo captives

Attorneys from Clifford Chance helped prepared the habeas corpus petitions Khalid, et al. v. Bush, Omar Deghayes v. George W. Bush, for captives held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

Charles "Cully" Stimson, then Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs, stirred controversy when he went on record criticizing the patriotism of law firms that allowed employees to assist Guantanamo captives: "corporate CEOs seeing this should ask firms to choose between lucrative retainers and representing terrorists." ^[9] Stimson's views were widely criticized. The Pentagon disavowed them and he resigned shortly thereafter.

[edit] External links

• Official site
• Vault.com report on Clifford Chance
• Firm's rankings in Chambers UK and Chambers Global
• Clifford Chance Centre Doctoral Scholarships
• HP infrastructure supports global practice management at Clifford Chance
• Clifford Chance is at coordinates 51°30′10″N 0°01′01″W / 51.5027, -0.017 (Clifford Chance)Coordinates: 51°30′10″N 0°01′01″W / 51.5027, -0.017 (Clifford Chance)
• Clifford Chance's page on legalweek.com

[edit] Notes

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