Clifford Chance Firing 20 Moscow Lawyers; Other Int’l Layoffs Underway

Clifford Chance LLP LLP will cut 20% of its lawyer head count in its Moscow office in the current financial year, with the firm’s Middle East offices also set for potential layoffs.

In Moscow, Clifford Chance has laid off six lawyers through individual consultations, with the office also losing another 24 through attrition over the same period. There are now 150 lawyers in the office.

The firm said the move was in response to declining demand for advice on foreign investment in Russia.

Meanwhile, 23 secondees in the firm’s Middle East practice, 20 in Dubai and three in Abu Dhabi, are involved in the 80-lawyer London redundancy consultation which the firm kicked off earlier this month.

Separately, the firm has also decreased headcount in Paris by 5%, reducing staff by around 10 fee earners during the last year. That office now has 210 lawyers.

Clifford Chance LLP is the largest law firm in the world, both by number of lawyers and revenue, and a component of the UK’s “Magic Circle” of leading law firms. It is a prestigious international practice with its principal office at Canary Wharf in London.