Clifford Chance is one of the world's leading law firms, with 35 offices* in 25 countries and some 3,400 legal advisers.
A single partnership, the firm has unrivalled scale and depth of legal resources across the key markets of Africa, the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East and in the core areas of commercial activity:
At Clifford Chance, they pride theirselves on combining the highest global standards with local expertise. Their business strategy is underpinned by the drive to provide their clients with a world class service. The 'one firm' global business model that they pioneered continues to stand out in the marketplace; they are still the only non-franchise law firm with a substantial footprint in all of the world's major markets.
Many of the world's leading organisations look to Clifford Chance not just for legal expertise but for advice on business critical issues and market opportunities. They participate and advise at the highest level of government, business and regulation. Their corporate responsibility programme is the most comprehensive in the industry and something they take extremely seriously as a fundamental part of their commercial life.
Sharing know-how across borders and jurisdictions, building teams of specialist sector-focused lawyers, innovative thinking in terms of products and services, investing in only the most talented people, promoting best practice across all layers of the business, recognising that there is always more that they can do for their clients... these are just some of the reasons why Clifford Chance has become known as one of the world's most highly regarded, forward-thinking and influential law firms.
In 1987, today's Clifford Chance came into being when successful London firms Coward Chance and Clifford Turner merged to form the pre-eminent law firm in Europe, taking the legal world by storm. The merger was predicated on the shared belief that the world's leading organisations would seek legal advice that was able to look beyond borders or narrow areas of expertise.
Then, in 2000, Clifford Chance undertook a major international tripartite merger with Germany's Pünder Volhard Weber & Axster and New York-based Rogers & Wells. The combination of the three firms' geographic footprint and breadth of expertise created the world's first global law firm. To this day, they remain the only non-franchise law firm with real breadth and depth of expertise across Europe, Asia Pacific, the Americas and the Middle East.
Focusing on the future and anticipating evolving client needs is not only about understanding where clients will want legal advice but also about how they want that service delivered. During the past few years, Clifford Chance has been at the forefront of developments that have changed fundamentally the management of law firms – from the adoption of IT systems and sophisticated document management processes to investment in 'best-in-class' learning and development to creation of efficient and cost-effective offshore legal support, administrative, business research and technology centres.
But whatever changes they have anticipated in the past are nothing compared with those that lie ahead of us. Their sights are set firmly on staying in the vanguard of the legal industry as it evolves to meet the demands of a more complex, faster changing, more connected world.
