Clifford Chance
| Clifford Chance LLP | |
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| Headquarters | 10 Upper Bank Street London, United Kingdom |
| No. of offices | 32 in 20 countries[1][dead link] |
| No. of lawyers | 2,900[1][dead link] |
| Major practice areas | General practice |
| Revenue | £1.197 billion[2] |
| Date founded | 1987 |
| Company type | Limited liability partnership |
| Website | |
| www.cliffordchance.com | |
Clifford Chance LLP is a global law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom and a member of the 'Magic Circle' of leading UK law firms.[2] It is one of the ten largest law firms in the world measured by both number of lawyers and revenue.[3] In 2010/11 it achieved total revenues of £1.219 billion and profits per equity partner of £1.005 million.[4] David Childs has been Managing Partner since 2006.[5]
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[edit] History
Clifford Chance's origins date back to 1802 when Anthony Brown became the first lawyer in his family when he started a solo law practice in London. Since then the firm has changed its name several times but it has always remained an integral part of the City of London.[6][7] One of Clifford Chance's predecessor firms established an office in New York in 1986. The merger of London-based law firms Clifford Turner and Coward Chance in 1987 led to the formation of Clifford Chance. Neither Clifford Turner or Coward Chance were first-rank London law firms, but their merger has since been said to have changed the shape and profile of law firms in London and globally.[8] Over the next decade the firm expanded its practices across Europe and Asia and more than doubled in size. In 1992 Clifford Chance became the first major non-US firm to practise US law.[9]
In 1999 Clifford Chance merged with Frankfurt-based law firm Pünder, Volhard, Weber & Axster and with the 1871-established US-based firm Rogers & Wells (the use of the Pünder, Volhard, Weber & Axster and Rogers & Wells branding for their respective European and United States regional offices was discontinued in 2003). In 2002, Clifford Chance launched in California, setting up a branch with nearly 50 attorneys from the disbanding dot-com firm Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison in Los Angeles, Palo Alto, San Diego and San Francisco. With California's downturn, the firm closed its Pacific Coast operations in 2007.[10]
Because of falling revenues during the recent global recession, Clifford Chance reduced the number of partners by around 15%.[11] The firm is increasingly moving back office tasks to its 350-employee Global Shared Service Centre, including a 60-employee Knowledge Centre in New Delhi, India as an efficiency measure.[12]
On 1 May 2011, Clifford Chance opened offices in Australia by merging with two boutique law firms, Sydney-based Chang, Pistilli & Simmons and Perth-based Cochrane Lishman Carson Luscombe.[13]
In November 2011 it was identified as the largest supplier to the City of London Corporation having received over £9m in fees between January and September of that year.[14]
[edit] Main practice areas
- Banking and finance
- Capital markets
- Corporate law
- Real estate
- Litigation
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Clifford Chance Annual review 2009". Clifford Chance LLP. http://microsite.cliffordchance.com/reports09/pdf/CliffordChance_AR09.pdf. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
- ^ a b "Clifford Chance Is Top U.K. Law Firm as Revenue Falls". Bloomberg Businessweek. 8 July 2010. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-08/clifford-chance-is-top-u-k-law-firm-as-revenue-falls.html. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
- ^ "The Global 100: Most Revenue 2009". American Lawyer. http://www.law.com/jsp/tal/PubArticleTAL.jsp?id=1202433980888. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
- ^ "Clifford Chance back in £1m PEP club as revenues nudge up". The Lawyer. 5 July 2011. http://www.thelawyer.com/clifford-chance-back-in-%C2%A31m-pep-club-as-revenues-nudge-up/1008491.article. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
- ^ "David Childs". Times Online. 21 April 2008. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article3681363.ece. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
- ^ "United Kingdom". Clifford Chance LLP. http://www.cliffordchance.com/locations/united_kingdom.html. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
- ^ A brief history of Clifford Chance
- ^ Fennel, Edward (30 January 2007). "Driving ambition of mega CC - Why the merger of Coward Chance and Clifford Turner changed the way City firms work". The Times (London: News Corporation). http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/corporate_law/article1296205.ece. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
- ^ Dillon, Karen (May 1993), "The British Empire Strikes Back", American Lawyer: 52–56
- ^ Eric Young, "Giant UK firm to quit West Coast", San Francisco Business Times, 2 May 2007. http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2007/03/05/story8.html
- ^ "Clifford Chance". Thelawyer.com. http://www.thelawyer.com/directory/c/Clifford-Chance/. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
- ^ Mark Ford (Director of the Clifford Chance Knowledge Centre): Clifford Chance's knowledge centre in India: the story so far, Practical Law Company, 28 April 2011, http://plc.practicallaw.com/8-505-7501
- ^ Bloomberg (2011). Clifford Chance Merges With Two Law Firms to Open in Australia. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
- ^ City of London spending and income: where does the money come from, and where does it go? Guardian 01 November 2011 http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/nov/01/city-london-spending-income
[edit] Further reading
- Scott, John (1980). Clifford-Turner. Legibus.
- Slinn, Judy (1993). Clifford Chance: Its Origins and Development. Granta Editions.
- Bose, Mihir, 'Clifford Chance: A Very Peculiar Practice?', Director, March 1990, pp. 65–66, 68, 70.
- 'Playing for Stakes: The Game of Clifford Chance', Legal Business, June 1993, pp. 28–31.
- 'London Braces for the Big Six Invasion', American Lawyer, December 1996, pp. 5–6.
- Rose, Craig, 'Clifford Chance: The Merger That Worked', Commercial Lawyer, Issue 15, 1997, pp. 32–34.
- Morris, John E., 'The New World Order', American Lawyer, August 1999, pp. 92–99.
- 'Merger in the First Degree: British Law Firms Are Forging New Relationships That Could Transform the Style of Global Legal Practice', Time International, 9 August 1999, p. 41.
- Steinberger, Mike, 'Is Clifford Chance/Rogers & Wells the Next Wave, or Simply Overkill?', Investment Dealers' Digest, 9 August 1999, pp. 12–13.
Coordinates: 51°30′10″N 0°01′01″W / 51.5027°N 0.017°W
[edit] External links
- Clifford Chance LLP
- Clifford Chance rankings in Chambers Global, Chambers UK and Chambers Student Guide
- Profile of Clifford Chance and News articles about Clifford Chance on Legal Week
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