Kraft star to relocate to Dubai as Clifford Chance ups ante on partner mobility

Clifford Chance has continued its policy of relocating senior partners to key jurisdictions away from London with the secondment of corporate dealmaker Guy Norman to Dubai.

Norman, a partner since 1998, led the Clifford Chance team acting for Kraft on its takeover of Cadbury earlier this year and is widely viewed as one of the stars of the corporate practice.

He will relocate to Dubai in October with current corporate head Simon Clinton moving to Singapore in early 2011. Norman will be one of four corporate partners in the Dubai office.

The move is part of managing partner David Childs’ commitment to a mobile global partnership, with lawyers at all levels expected to work in different jurisdictions.

Firmwide corporate chief Matthew Layton said in a statement: “As a practice, it’s essential that we focus our resources to reflect the evolving demands of the global market. This underlies our increasing emphasis on partner mobility. 

“Dubai and Singapore continue to gain importance as economic hubs and that has created robust client demand in those regions for experienced partners with strong connections across international markets.”

In April, the firm announced that London litigation head Nick Munday and co-head of finance Tim Plews would move to Moscow and Riyadh respectively(19 April 2010). One driver of the move was to encourage other fee-earners to move between jurisdictions as part of their career development.

In Singapore, Clinton will continue to lead Clifford Chance’s global sovereign wealth group. Norman, meanwhile, will be expected to maintain his relationships with key corporate clients established through his London practice.

Layton added: “With his excellent reputation in the investment banking community, he will be play a leading role in the development of the firm’s global Corporate practice, taking the Gulf as the launch-pad for wider international initiatives.”