Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance appoints new UK Chief Operating Officer

International law firm Clifford Chance has appointed Sophie Schwass as Regional Chief Operating Officer for the UK. She joins from Lloyds Banking Group, where she was Head of Legal Operations.

Reporting to UK Managing Partner Michael Bates and Global COO Caroline Firstbrook, Sophie will be responsible for the operational and financial management of the UK business. Sitting on both the UK leadership team and global operations group, she will play a pivotal role helping to develop and implement operational strategy.

Sophie comments: "Throughout my legal career, I have seen Clifford Chance as market leading. I am excited to be joining the firm at a time of change in the industry, and look forward to working with the firm's leadership to ensure that the structure and culture of the firm delivers for our clients and our people."

Michael Bates comments: "We have always been determined to deliver the best outcomes for our clients, and the pace of the industry today means that we need to continuously improve the way we work. Sophie's experiences and insights will be invaluable as we work to integrate new skills, technologies, and ways of working into delivering our world-class legal services."

In the UK Clifford Chance has taken a number of key recent steps to transform service delivery to clients, including: acquiring Carillion Advice Services to deliver cost-effective, IT-enhanced, efficient and high-quality service on a range of low complexity legal tasks as part of the firm’s overall work for clients; launching three Best Delivery hubs to bring together Continuous Improvement, Legal Project Management and Legal Technology expertise to ensure best practice on client work; and launching the first legal project management apprenticeship to recruit new talent from diverse backgrounds.