The good news for Clifford Chance (CC) is that the once-ceaseless sniping it suffered in Manhattan has been reduced to a few ex-partners making bitchy comments about the exchange rate. That, at least to judge by an in-depth profile of CC’s US practice in this month’s American Lawyer, ranks as a major achievement for a firm that suffered five miserable long years after its 2000 takeover of Rogers & Wells.
Indeed, all London firms should cheer CC’s rising stock on Wall Street; the departure-strewn, strategically-challenged tie-up had become a lightning rod for US rivals that wanted to squeeze out UK firms in New York. If CC can turn the corner, the odds on its City peers making inroads with potential US recruits and clients also improve.
