Clifford Chance splits CEE management role

16 September 2009 | By Julia Berris

Amsterdam managing partner Jan ter Haar, who has been named Moscow managing partner, will take responsibility for Moscow and Kiev while another partner will be elected to oversee Bucharest, Prague and Warsaw. It is expected that one of the three offices’ current managing partners will fill the second role.

The firm’s Amsterdam partners will elect a new head for their office during the course of the autumn.

Clifford Chance managing partner David Childs: “The past five years have seen significant development in the business environment in Central and Eastern Europe and in Russia.

“These are very dynamic markets and it’s therefore important that we are flexible in our approach.”

Clifford Chance recently elected a new managing partner for its Kiev office with Jared Grubb replacing Nick Fletcher (19 August 2009). Former Warsaw managing partner Fletcher, who led the Kiev practice from its launch in 2008, has returned to Warsaw, though not as managing partner.

Earlier this year Clifford Chance reassessed its presence in Eastern Europe, deciding to pull out of Hungary. Former Budapest managing partner Péter Lakatos spun off the firm’s office in the city, launching a stand-alone practice called Lakatos Köves & Partners (30 June 2009).