Clifford Chance global head of litigation Jeremy Sandelson will step down from his role after eight years and will be replaced by partner Matthew Newick.
Newick, who has been at Clifford Chance since 1991, will take up Sandelson’s role on 1 Dec and will also join Clifford Chance’s executive leadership group.
Newick led the firm’s litigation and dispute resolution practice in Hong Kong from 2013 before returning to the London office in January this year.
Newick said: “It is a great honour to be chosen to succeed Jeremy, who is a very hard act to follow. I look forward to working with my colleagues around the world as we help clients to deal with the most complex and critical challenges they face.”
Managing Partner Matthew Layton added: “I know that Matthew will make a great leader for our pre-eminent litigation, dispute resolution and risk management practice. I would also like to thank Jeremy for his superb work leading this first-class global team that has worked on some of the most high-profile and challenging disputes and risks our clients face. This practice has never been stronger and I look forward to working with Matthew to build on these foundations.”
Sandelson is a Clifford Chance lifer who began his decades-long career at the magic circle firm in 1988. He was London managing partner for four years before he successfully ran against former Hong-Kong based Denis Brock to become the elected managing partner of the firm’s litigation practice in 2009.
Brock who led the Asian practice from 1997 until 2006, defected to Mallesons’ Hong Kong office in 2010, following the departure of private equity funds chief Jason Glover to Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.
Sandelson, who was re-elected to the role in 2013 and has served two full terms, will remain involved in the leadership of the group during a handover period before stepping back from the role towards the end of 2017, to continue to focus on client work and other projects.
