When Clifford Chance’s senior partner Jeroen Ouwehand kicked off 2021 with a call to arms to the firm’s younger partners to put their names forward to be the next global managing partner, the news was met with enthusiasm by many.

While several Clifford Chance partners at the time touted their support for some of the more long-standing partners sitting on the firm’s Executive Leadership Group (ELG), others ventured that the decision to look for younger partners not currently in that group to take up the top role could prove to be a sound decision for the future of the firm.