Clifford Chance
A guide to the law firm Clifford Chance: what it’s best known for, recent work highlights, what it pays, and its revenue and profitability.
Last updated:
January 6, 2025
A guide to the law firm Clifford Chance: what it’s best known for, recent work highlights, what it pays, and its revenue and profitability.
Clifford Chance has consistently ranked as one of the UK’s top 3 law firms over the past 20 years, both in terms of revenue and prestige. The firm is a member of the Magic Circle group of the UK’s more prestigious and profitable law firms.
Clifford Chance was born from the merger of two London-based law firms, Clifford Turner and Coward Chance, in 1987. The merger set the stage for its evolution into the global legal powerhouse it is today.
The firm expanded its international reach through strategic mergers, notably with Germany's Pünder, Volhard, Weber & Axster, and the US firm Rogers & Wells in 2000.
Today, Clifford Chance is one of the world's largest law firms, employing more than 2,500 lawyers and 550 partners across 32 offices in 22 countries.
The firm is renowned for its expertise in complex cross-border transactions, advising multinational corporations, financial institutions, governments, and international organisations.
Clifford Chance is a full service law firm, but it is particularly known for its work in finance, corporate/M&A and litigation.
Clifford Chance's deep global network is seen as a key competitive advantage (it's one of only a few firms that can truly describe itself as 'global'), with offices in major financial centres across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Like most of its Magic Circle rivals, in recent years Clifford Chance has made expansion in the US market a key part of its strategy as it looks to take on the rest of the so-called ‘global elite’ firms like Skadden and Kirkland & Ellis.
The firm has ambitious plans to double its revenue in the US and it looks like the plans are already working. In 2023/24, Clifford Chance’s US revenues surged by 28% - its best performance to date in the world’s biggest market for legal services.
Clifford Chance makes our ranking of the UK's most prestigious law firms.
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Here are three examples of recent transactions and matters Clifford Chance has advised on:
Aviva's £3.7bn takeover of Direct Line: In December 2024, Clifford Chance advised insurance giant and FTSE 100 member Aviva on its £3.7bn takeover offer for listed rival Direct Line. Once completed, the deal will create the UK's largest motor insurer with more than 20% of the market.
£2.9bn Takeover of Virgin Money by Nationwide: Clifford Chance advised Virgin Money on its £2.9bn all-cash takeover by Nationwide. The deal is set to be the biggest UK bank takeover since the 2008 financial crisis.
European Super League: Clifford Chance acted as exclusive advisor to the European Super League on its successful dispute with UEFA and FIFA after the governing bodies blocked the formation of the breakaway football competition in 2021.
Partnership Model Changes: In response to the growing threat of US firms in London, in October 2024 Clifford Chance announced changes to its partnership structure to better reward high performers and retain top talent. The new model means that partners with the most equity points could earn as much as £12 million a year. A&O Shearman announced a similar shake-up to its partnership model around the same time.
Litigation with Societe Generale: Clifford Chance is in a dispute with French bank and former client Societe Generale which is suing the firm for negligence and seeking €140 million in damages over its advice to the bank in a 2008 dispute with Turkish jewellers Goldas. As of October 2024, the dispute was being heard at the Court of Appeal.
US-style Associate Bonus System: In June 2024, Clifford Chance reportedly adopted a US-style bonus system for its associates to more closely align them with the bigger rewards offered in the US market. The new model is more closely tied to billable hours to reward the hardest-working associates.
Clifford Chance advises across a broad range of practice areas, but it's particularly known for its strengths in the following areas:
Corporate/M&A: Clifford Chance is a leader in corporate and M&A transactions, advising on high-profile and complex deals globally thanks to its extensive international network. It is ranked in Band 1 by Chambers for 'Corporate/M&A: £800m+'.
Banking & Finance: The firm has a world-class reputation in banking and finance, across project finance, real estate finance, restructuring and insolvency, and Islamic finance. It is ranked in Band 1 by Chambers for 'Big-Ticket' finance transactions.
Capital Markets: The firm is a dominant force in the capital markets space, including debt and equity capital markets, securitisation, derivatives, and structured finance. It's ranked in Band 1 by Chambers for 'Capital Markets: Debt'.
Litigation & Dispute Resolution: The firm boasts a strong litigation and dispute resolution practice, adept at managing complex disputes across jurisdictions. Clifford Chance is ranked in Band 1 by Chambers for 'Commercial and Corporate' litigation.
Antitrust/Competition: Clifford Chance has a leading antitrust and competition practice, advising on antitrust investigations, compliance, merger clearances, and litigation. It has a Band 1 ranking in Chambers for 'Competition Law'.
We use Chambers rankings to demonstrate a firm's strengths. Chambers is the most highly-regarded provider of law firm rankings in the legal industry. Law firms are ranked in bands from 1 (highest) to 6 (lowest) across a range of practice areas.
It's important to note that being ranked in any band at all is still considered a significant achievement.
Clifford Chance competes directly with the rest of the Magic Circle for the biggest mandates. On the global stage, the firm competes with the largest US firms considered part of the 'global elite', including the likes of Kirkland & Ellis, Skadden and Latham & Watkins.
Here's what Clifford Chance pays its trainees and newly qualified (NQ) lawyers:
Trainee First Year: £56,000
Trainee Second Year: £61,000
Newly Qualified (NQ): £150,000
We have a list of salaries paid by all of the UK’s top law firms here.
Clifford Chance is the 4th biggest law firm in the UK by revenue. In 2023, its revenue was £2.06 billion.
In 2023, its profit per equity partner (PEP) was £2,000,000.
In 2023, Clifford Chance’s average profit per equity partner (PEP) was £2,000,000.
This is the total amount of profit available for distribution among equity partners, divided by the number of equity partners at the firm.
This represents the average amount that equity partners are entitled to. Some will receive significantly more, some less. It depends on the firm’s profit-sharing formula and each partner’s seniority.
Salaried partners are not paid from profits.
Clifford Chance takes on around 100 trainees each year, the highest number of any UK firm.
Trainees complete four seats in different departments, each lasting six months.
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