Clifford Chance (CC) partners yesterday (29 May) backed a deal to take on 21 partners from San Francisco’s Brobeck Phleger & Harrison – completing the largest raid by a UK firm on an established US practice and securing the top London firm its first presence in California.

The moves come after weeks of on-off discussions, with CC earlier this month refusing an offer by former Brobecks chairman Tower Snow to take on more than 35 partners.