Clifford Chance’s (CC’s) New York arm has slipped from being the city’s seventh largest practice by number of fee earners to 11th, according to new research that shows US rivals outpacing the magic circle firm in 2002.

The New York Law Journal’s (NYLJ’s) annual survey of the city’s leading firms, shows the magic circle firm’s fee earner count dropped from 461 to 451 in 2002 while the majority of its rivals continued to expand their practices.