Clifford Chance adds ICC arbitrator to Paris team

Greenberg will join the magic circle firm’s Paris office as a counsel at the end of February next year.

The firm’s global head of international arbitration Audley Sheppard said Greenberg’s arrival would help balance out Clifford Chance’s worldwide arbitration practice, which has for some time been stronger in London than in Paris.

The French arbitration team in particular was dented by the 2007 departure of Jason Fry, who joined the ICC to take up the role of secretary general. Sheppard’s predecessor as global practice head, John Beechey, is the current ICC chair (13 June 2008).

Sheppard said Greenberg’s expertise of both the ICC and the French and Asian markets would be a boost for Clifford Chance.

“What we can say to clients is here’s someone who knows the ICC inside out,” Sheppard said.

Other firms have also been bulking up in arbitration in Paris, most notably Allen & Overy which hired a team from Herbert Smith earlier this year (27 May 2011).