Clifford Chance installs ICC Court secretary general as arbitration co-head

Jason Fry, who will co-head the group with Audley Sheppard, will join the firm’s Paris office in September 2012. He was previously a Clifford Chance partner from 1999 until he joined the ICC in 2007.

While at the ICC Fry co-authored the new ICC Arbitration Rules that were put into action in January (5 December 2011) along with deputy secretary general Simon Greenburg,whose departure for Clifford Chance’s Paris office was unveiled in October last year (27 October 2011).

Fry caused controversy at the ICC last summer after he excluded six former secretary generals from top-level discussions about the new rules (5 September 2011). He was perceived to be a driving force at the ICC, overhauling the handbook to make it more accessible to arbitration users.

Sheppard at Clifford Chance said: “The experience Jason has gained at the ICC and the insights he has into global arbitration developments will be invaluable to our clients. Paris is a leading centre for international arbitration so it will be great to have Jason based there.”

A statement from ICC Court president John Beechey said there were two reasons for him being “delighted” that Fry had accepted the position: “First, I hope that others of similar standing and calibre will be encouraged by Jason’s demonstration that it’s possible to move from a senior position in private practice to a prestigious post such as that of secretary general of the ICC Court and back again and to excel in both.

“Second, I hope that the degree of confidence in their practice manifest in Jason’s return, together with the arrival of Simon Greenberg, will encourage Clifford Chance to take full advantage of this opportunity to restore and consolidate the firm’s standing as an international arbitration practice of the first rank.”