<a class=Clifford Chance to cut 115 London support staff jobs” class=”inline_image inline_image_left” src=”/pictures/web/images/16549_cc-london90.jpg” />Clifford Chance is looking to lay off up to 115 business services staff in London after a review of its support staff needs.

The firm currently has around 1,200 business services staff based in London, with the number including all employees other than fee earners and IT staff.

The firm’s director of global business services Amanda Burton said of the cuts: “We have the most professional business services function in the sector and I’m immensely proud of our contribution to the firm, so this has been a difficult decision.

“However, we need to take steps to ensure that the level of resource within the firm is appropriate for our business needs.”

The firm is envisaging making between 105 and 115 business support staff redundant.

A spokesperson said that Clifford Chance’s overseas offices would “continue to review their resources in light of economic conditions”.

The decision to make further London job cuts is the result of a review that began in January when the firm put all its London fee-earners into consultation in an effort to reduce lawyer headcount by 80 (8 January). Last month Clifford Chance announced that it would also look to dramatically scale back its partnership (4 February).

IT staff have been subject to separate consultations in connection with Clifford Chance’s global shared service centre (GSSC) offshoring programme. The firm has been looking at IT staffing levels for the past two years after it offshored some of its IT function to India as part of a cost-cutting drive (4 June 2007).

Clifford Chance is one of three magic circle firms looking to restructure as a result of the recession. Allen & Overy (A&O) is looking to shrink its headcount across all areas with the intention of shrinking its global support staff numbers by 9 per cent (19 February).

At Linklaters between 100 and 120 City lawyers will lose their jobs as part of the firm’s so-called New World strategy, while 130 to 150 members of business services staff will also be affected.

Linklaters is seeking to drastically overhaul its structure in a bid to become a smaller, more profitable operation (29 January).

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer remains the only magic circle firm not to announce widespread redundancies.