Business of Law Firms
Clifford Chance boots managing partner and reflects​

By Jake Rickman​

What do you need to know this week?

Welcome to the 23rd article in TCLA’s series on the Business of Law of Firms. We took a break last week, but we are back now to gaze into the shadowy, mysterious world of senior leadership struggles at a global UK law firm.

It emerged over the past week that last month, Clifford Chance’s partners voted to oust its Senior Partner, Amsterdam-based Jeroen Ouwehand, in a leadership election that saw him lose out on the firm’s backing to stay on for a second term.

Mr Ouwehand, who leads the firm’s Responsible Business Board and its Global ESG Board, announced on LinkedIn late last week that his term as Clifford Chance’s Senior Partner was coming to an end this month. He notes that he will still play a “key role” advancing the firm’s ESG initiatives once he steps down and “remain an ambassador for [Clifford Chance’s] culture.”

Replacing him is Adrian Cartwright, a capital markets partner based in London.

As various publications including The Lawyer and Law.com have noted, Mr Ouwehand’s failure to secure a second term is significant because the previous two Senior Partners’ tenure was for two terms. This suggests that there may have been some discontent among the firm’s senior leadership over his vision for the firm’s future.

All commentators can do is speculate, but insiders have reported to The Lawyer and Law.com two main reasons for the firm’s decision.

First, given Mr Ouwehand is based in Amsterdam and the firm’s Managing Partner, Charles Adams, is based in Milan, senior leadership decided the firm’s headquarters in London needed to play a more significant role.

Second, insiders report that Mr Ouwehand’s fixation on ESG may have been overstated, with The Lawyer stating that some partners felt his emphasis on ESG was "unfocused" and "unstrategic".

Similarly, as Law.com reports, the firm’s capital markets practice plays a more central role in the business generation of the firm as opposed to litigation, which is Mr Ouwehand’s background. It may be that electing Mr Cartwright to the role reflects the firm’s desire to return to its more traditional roots.

Why is this important for your interviews?

It is probably not wise to go into an interview and speculate on the political manoeuvring taking place among the firm’s leadership. While having well-informed opinions is a good thing, the prevailing view is that trainees and junior associates should “stay in their lane”.

That said, it is worth remembering for our own career development that a large law firm’s leadership is not uniform. There are prevailing and countervailing winds at force. Those elected to executive and senior leadership positions need to deal with the politics at play to win their office.

Additionally, the fact that Clifford Chance’s partners allegedly baulked at Mr Ouwehand’s prioritisation of ESG is a reminder that the business case underlying ESG-focused strategies in general is far from made out. That is, “ESG for ESG’s sake” may not resonate with a business’ bottom line. For all the lip service law firms pay ESG publicly, behind closed doors perspectives may differ.