A blast from the past
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It was the moment we’d all been waiting for and, announcing its financial results today, Clifford Chance did not disappoint.
As revealed by The Lawyer earlier this year, the firm’s managing partner David Childs had warned his partners back in January to expect profits to slump by as much as a third (see story).
As it turns out, he was wrong: profits have crashed by 37 per cent to £733,000, bringing the firm back to levels it last saw at the beginning of the decade (see story).
To be fair to the firm, it could have been worse. Remember the 2003-04 and 2004-05 financial years, when PEP fell to £562,000 and £651,000 respectively?
And, for those partners lucky enough to still have a job at Clifford Chance, at a shade under £750,000 the hefty drop on last year’s £1.17m is still a massive annual pay packet. Especially in the context of the past financial year.
So while Clifford Chance may not have set the bar for the rest of the magic circle to aspire to, its announcement should give the others the confidence to reveal their - presumably downbeat - figures too.
Apart from Freshfields, that is. Word is that after a year of spectacular growth in 2007-08, the firm’s 2008-09 performance has been embarrassingly good.
Plus ça change.
