Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance, once the ‘little brother’ of the Magic Circle, is now a giant of the UK legal ecosystem, with global revenues surpassing £2.3 billion placing it as the second largest firm headquartered in the country. It has traditionally specialised in banking and finance work (for both borrowers and lenders), including in support of private equity deals. Its expansion strategy, both domestically and abroad, seems premised on cornering less sought-after, but still potentially lucrative, areas of the lateral market. To begin, Clifford Chance has long maintained an expertise for being the foremost provider of top-of-the-market banking and finance advice amongst the UK firms. It is one of five firms worldwide to be ranked as a Band 1 Global Finance offering by Chambers.’ Further, It is one of very few large firms whose finance revenues often approach its corporate earnings. Whilst many firms’ finance practices specialise in either lender-focused or borrower/sponsor-focused work, Clifford Chance’s team is large enough to support a healthy stream of instructions on both sides. Regarding its borrower-side work, the firm has cultivated a reputation for supporting high-value private equity sponsors in facilitating acquisitions. Robert Lee, formerly the global head of finance for the firm, has often led this type of work, relying on longstanding relationships with several PE houses. Regarding its lender-side work, Clifford Chance is frequently sought after by the full range of banks and financial institutions across the City, particularly for regulatorily complex work. For instance, partner Emma Matebalavu has recently spearheaded several mandates for banks funding novel CMBS (Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities) offerings. In addition to this banking and finance specialism, Clifford Chance has charted its own course for the future via an expansion strategy based on targeting slightly less sought-after sections of the lateral market. This is perhaps most obvious regarding the firm’s US approach. US Managing Partner Ness Cohen has built the firm’s practice around two areas: asset finance and projects. In addition to dovetailing neatly with Clifford Chance’s banking and finance reputation more generally, both practice areas are slightly less well-pursued in lateral recruitment. This means that the more limited top-end compensation at the firm (sitting at around ½ of the top figure of most top-level NYC firms) is less of an imposition. This strategy has been a success. A string of partner acquisitions from Milbank and Debevoise built the combined practices to a revenue of £80 million. A similar strategy is evident in Europe and at home. Specifically, Clifford Chance seems to be targeting the restructuring market, with six lateral hires from US firms in this area in the past 8 months. This is a potentially lucrative area which has been overlooked by firms looking to expand. An example of the potential in this space is offered by new partner Kolja von Bismarck, taken from Sidley Austin’s Munich Office. von Bismarck is known for supporting private equity clients in acquiring distressed assets. In this way, Clifford Chance aims to deepen relationships with valuable private equity clients whilst maintaining a reasonable cost outlay. Clifford Chance is a top-tier English law firm with a global reach. It has a clear expertise and a sensible approach to expansion moving forward.