2024 DIVERSITY DATABASE UNDERWRITER Clifford Chance US LLP

With 3,400 lawyers across more than 30 offices around the globe, Clifford Chance is a legal behemoth. The firm boasts a growing practice in the United States and a global reputation that shines.

Brits and Yanks

The modern Clifford Chance was created in 1987 when the giant U.K. firms Coward Chance and Clifford Turner merged, creating what The Times of London called “the country’s first mega law firm.” Over the years, Clifford Chance has opened offices and built client lists around the world, adopting a cross-border focus long before such an outlook became commonplace. The firm grew from hundreds of attorneys to thousands, which enabled it to work several major deals and cases simultaneously. In the 1990s, Clifford Chance blazed the trail for international firms to practice U.S. law, merging with a New York litigation powerhouse. Now, Clifford Chance is a thriving, full-service U.S. firm with over 400 lawyers and offices in Houston, New York, and Washington, DC. According to the firm, its U.S. practice is currently the firm’s No. 1 priority.

Delivering the Best

Clifford Chance has 32 offices spanning key markets across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. With a particularly strong reputation in the financial sector, the firm offers substantive experience in a wide array of practice areas and industries, including banking and finance, capital markets, corporate, litigation and dispute resolution, real estate, tax pensions, and employment. The firm also offers numerous cross-practice areas, such as those common in Latin America (including energy, infrastructure, M&A, and capital markets), as well as regulatory and technology (such as fintech). 

First-year associates in the firm’s transactional practice enter the Clifford Chance transactional pool and remain there for 18 months, receiving assignments in banking and finance, capital markets, corporate, and real estate. A dedicated assignment team oversees the pool and aims to provide associates with assignments that align with their long-term goals. The firm also has a best delivery team. According to the firm, “These specialists focus on continuous improvement, project management, and legal technology to help make the practice of law more efficient and allow our associates to better focus on the legal aspects of each matter.”

Supporting its People

Clifford Chance supports its associates with both training and mentorship. The firm’s Clifford Chance Academy covers both legal and business skills using both classroom and online formats. In addition to practice- and sector-focused trainings, associates are provided opportunities to grow their skills in business development, relationship building, and management. The firm also assigns all incoming associates a partner and an associate mentor and offers cross-office mentorship programs.

• Clifford Chance advised IDB Invest on US$2.4 billion A/B tariff stabilization purchase facility and securitization of power-tariff receivables and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Itau BBA USA Securities Inc. on the related US$1.4 billion Rule 144A/Regulation S notes offering by a Luxembourg special purpose vehicle.
• Clifford Chance advised TotalEnergies on entering into a joint venture agreement with Vanguard Renewables for the ownership, development, and operation of renewable natural gas production projects.
• Clifford Chance advised Informa, a member of the FTSE 100, in connection with its recently announced definitive agreement to combine its Informa Tech digital businesses with TechTarget.
• Clifford Chance represented and secured a not-guilty jury verdict on behalf of client and former CEO of Autonomy, Dr. Mike Lynch.

• The Elite for Associate Satisfaction and Quality of Life according to the Associate Satisfaction Survey, 2024—Chambers

• Excellent Performer in career development and best firms for retention according to the Associate Satisfaction Survey, 2024—Chambers

• 124 Band 1 rankings, 2025—Chambers Global

• International Law Firm of the Year, 2025—Legal500 Brazil Awards

• No.1 Best Law Firm for LGBTQ+ Individuals, 2025—Vault