Milan-based Charles Adams elected magic circle giant’s next global managing partner
Clifford Chance has appointed a lawyer outside the UK as its next global managing partner for the first time in its history.
Charles Adams, a banking and finance specialist based in the firm’s Milan office, will commence his four-year term on 1 May 2022 after receiving the backing of the global partnership. He replaces Matthew Layton who has held the role since 2014.
Adams is dual-qualified in Italy and England and Wales and has been CC’s regional managing partner for mainland Europe since 2018. He studied law at Oxford University and is fluent in English, French, Italian and Spanish.
Commenting on his election, Adams said: “It is an absolute privilege to have been elected by the partners to take on this role, and I would like to thank all the other partners who stood for their contribution to an important discussion about the firm’s future.”
He continued:
“At Clifford Chance we have all the ingredients to continue to shape the legal industry: an outstanding global platform, deep and broad market-leading expertise and a strong, dynamic and ambitious culture. The past few years have shown what we can achieve, and I see many opportunities to work with partners and all my colleagues across Clifford Chance to build on that success. At the heart of all we do will be ensuring that we are the absolute first choice for our clients and for the best talent in the market.”
The Legal Cheek Firms Most List shows CC is one of the largest law firms in the world, with some 3,000 lawyers across 33 offices. It offers around 95 UK training contracts each year.