Trust Clifford Chance (CC) to make cost-cutting appear interesting. Five years ago, the firm called a necessary halt to a breathless period of growth. There then followed a long period of consolidation as it set about trying to make its network actually work. It is only in the last year or so that it has been getting back to its old self.
But this return to form has not signalled an end to the cost-cutting regime so enthusiastically embraced by managing partner David Childs. Quite the reverse. The decision to establish a service centre 4,164 miles from London in Delhi signals a determination to take this efficiency drive to a new level.
