Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance records record results - for the first time generating profit per equity partner in excess of £2m

Financial results for the year ended 30 April 2022 (FY22)

• Seventh consecutive year of record profit and revenue
• Revenues of GBP 1,969 million, representing growth of 8% year on year
• Partnership profit¹ GBP 783 million, an increase of 9% year on year
• Profit per equity partner (PEP) GBP 2.04 million, an increase of 10% year on year
• In US Dollars², these figures are equivalent to revenues of USD 2,658 million, profit USD 1,057 million, PEP USD 2.75 million
• In Euros², these figures are equivalent to revenues of EUR 2,323 million, profit EUR 924 million, PEP EUR 2.4 million

 Since the introduction of the firm's strategy in FY2015:

• Revenues have increased by 46%
• Partnership has profit increased by 74%
• Profit per equity partner has increased by 82%

The combination of robust revenues, prudent cost management and increased emphasis on financial and commercial discipline, resulted in the firm ending FY22 with GBP 376 million in cash and no net borrowings.

Scroll to see our key financial indicators and strategic highlights

Charles Adams, Clifford Chance Global Managing Partner, comments:

"Our team has delivered another outstanding year of results. We are seeing the positive outcome of our long-term strategic focus to diversify our client base, continually increase our market share and growth in priority geographies such as the Americas.  These results are a testament to Matthew Layton’s leadership as the previous Global Managing Partner, as well as the energy, dedication, teamwork and phenomenal expertise of all our colleagues. It is because of this that, profit per equity partner increased by 10% year on year to in excess of £2m.

“Clients are at the heart of everything we do. To serve them better, we continue to prioritise our relationships with them and the delivery of our balanced combination of expertise and our increasingly global focus. Despite geopolitical uncertainty and signs of a slowdown in some markets, all our regions grew in income and net profit".

Our Global Platform

Clifford Chance’s global platform gives the firm a position of strength and confidence looking ahead. New mandates with market-leading businesses including Cinven, Mercer, NMC Healthcare, as well as many more, show the excellent progress against our goals which we achieved by taking a long-term view and making strategic investments in our business while remaining agile and adaptable.

The firm’s diverse portfolio of clients and services delivered revenue growth in practice areas and we have now seen an almost doubling of revenue in financial investors over the last seven years. The firm’s highly regarded corporate advisory practices, as well as the global financial markets team experienced significant peaks in activity levels, contributing to overall growth.

Continued priorities and investment in our People strategy

Investment in our people has and will continue to be an important priority and we are committed to delivering the firm’s People, Talent and Inclusion strategy today and in the years to come.

Throughout the last 12 months, we have seen a transition to hybrid working across the firm. Our support for the wellbeing of our people has been a key priority throughout the global pandemic and as people adapt to new ways of working. Clifford Chance continues to work hard to ensure the experience of all our colleagues allows them to thrive in their roles and develop their expertise and long-term career goals.

The firm has made progress against its global inclusion goals, including meeting inclusion targets for gender and ethnicity, which were comfortably passed in the UK and US. This year saw the highest percentage of promoted female partners at 41% and the 3-year 5% LGBT partner goal was exceeded ahead of schedule.

Looking ahead

Charles Adams, concluded:

“We continue to keep our intensified focus on securing strong foundations for our future success; understanding what clients will need from us and what type of firm we will need to be. Our strong and diverse bench of talented leaders, both long-serving and recent appointments, will play a critical role in executing the firm's strategy and ensuring Clifford Chance remains the firm of choice for world-leading businesses of today and tomorrow.”

In the new reality, we have all become accustomed to uncertainty, so we are vigilant in staying close to our clients, listening to our people and being prepared for the unknown. As we observe the evolving geopolitics in a number of regions, the appalling Russian military aggression in Ukraine, as well as the global economic headwinds linked with the impact of inflation and supply chain fragility, it is critical we remain agile and ready to embrace change as well as act when needed.”

Selected strategic and investment highlights from the past year

• Invested in 17 new lateral partner hires, across all markets and practice areas and with particular focus on our financial investors offering
• Closed Moscow office and ceased operations in Russia transferring Russian work to a new, locally established independent law firm during May-June 2022
• Committed US$1.7m through employee donations and matched funding, to support humanitarian efforts in response to Ukraine crisis. Local offices and regions pledged additional US$274k.  Donations made to UNHCR, the International Red Cross, Ukrainian House in Poland, People in Need in the Czech Republic and Save the Children Romania
• Launched our People and Talent Strategy focused on hiring top talent across the globe, supporting the career progression of our people, advancing the learning and leadership development opportunities for our people, and ensuring fair and competitive reward programmes. Our people priorities and our culture are underpinned by inclusion, wellbeing and employee listening
• Continued progress on our gender, ethnicity and LGBT+ inclusion targets. This year saw our highest ever percentage of promoted female partners at 41% and we exceeded our 5% LGBT UK partner goal 3 years ahead of schedule as well as exceeding our targets on ethnic minority partners. Awarded top Law Firm in Stonewall UK index and 3rd overall, gold status in Stonewall global workplace equality index in our first year of entry and gold in the Australian Workplace Equality Index. We continued to rollout our award-winning reverse mentoring programme. Expanded affinity networks in number, activity and engagement levels, with our Enable network winning People in Law award for their "My Lived Experience" campaign.
• Achieved 78% engagement and enablement levels in our most recent People Survey, high and above industry benchmarks. Our people are proud to work at Clifford Chance (88%) attest to great teamwork and collaboration (83%) and a work set up that allows them to be productive (83%). All of this is underpinned and propelled by the high levels of support for our culture with 86% agreeing that the firm values inclusion and similarly 86% who say they are treated with respect.