Chance to show who’s boss
Senior partner elections are sometimes seen as a distraction from the real business of running a law firm, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
The senior partner role is classically seen as ambassadorial, with the winning candidate having to represent the brand.
Linklaters has a cerebral managing partner in Simon Davies teamed with a big client man in David Cheyne. But despite Cheyne’s reputation, his introverted approach to the job is now being questioned internally following Freshfields’ snaffling of BP (see City feature).
By contrast, by far the most dynamic magic circle team, both operationally and creatively, is the David Morley-Wim Dejonghe pairing at Allen & Overy. Linklaters is doing interesting things on diversity, but the A&O team is communicating a passion for the issue you could never imagine Cheyne espousing.
Bearing all this in mind, Clifford Chance partners have an important decision to make in their senior partner contest. In the UK corner are Jonathan Elman and Malcolm Sweeting, neither of whom
are characterised by a great willingness to embrace communication with the outside world. In the internationalist corner is trilingual M&A superstar Daniela Weber-Rey, who will have to overcome London partners’ innate hostility to the prospect of a German in charge.
I’m aware that a journalist commenting favourably on Weber-Rey’s candidacy hardly helps her cause, as Clifford Chance partners are notoriously counter-suggestive, but the firm stands or falls on being truly global. If it votes for Weber-Rey it will not only endorse its self-declared status, but also become the first magic circle firm with a female senior partner. For a firm
that ostensibly cares about diversity, the brand advantages are huge.
As our report on diversity this week reveals, women are still underrepresented in the top firms, and Clifford Chance’s management is desperate for some wins on this. The partners have a chance to put a successful non-British woman in a symbolic role.
Clifford Chance used to be a byword for leading from the front. The outcome of this election will say a lot about the firm and answer this question: is Clifford Chance still a boys’ club?
Readers' comments (4)
Anonymous | 25-Oct-2010 6:56 pm
Clifford Chance should choose the person best able to discharge the actual functions of Senior Partner under its Partnership Agreement for the next 4 years, whether or not that produces the best headlines for the journos on diversity or other "huge brand advantages".
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Anonymous | 26-Oct-2010 10:20 am
Never mind any diversity symbolics. Who's going to be the right candidate for a firm which thinks it is global? CC will either decide it is a London-centric firm, or they'll think about where they need to be over the next 10 years. The danger is they'll become the Macfarlanes of the Magic Circle.
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Popham's Ghost | 26-Oct-2010 3:25 pm
Interesting that Anonymous 10.20 sees diversity as symbolic only. The biggest challenge facing Clifford Chance is to be properly global in a world where Asia (China) will be the dominant power bloc. A bunch of insular London gents won't be ready for that world.
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Rhubarb & Custard | 27-Oct-2010 1:22 pm
to @Popham's Ghost - if having a management team who reflect the rising economies such as China, India and Brazil is what is needed to be a successful global firm of the future, then not just CC is in trouble but all global firms. Having a German partner as senior partner at CC (whether male, female or other) really will make no difference at all. How about a partner from Hong Kong - and a Chinese one - not another Brit?
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