Clifford Chance Profits Suffer Steep Fall

Clifford Chance has reported a spectacular 37 percent fall in profits per equity partner for the 2008-09 financial year. A fall in profits was expected, given Clifford Chance's exposure to the financial sector -- it has one of the leading banking practices of any U.K. firm. But such a steep decline comes as a surprise. The percentage fall in PPP at Clifford Chance is greater than the decline in profits at Cadwalader, which at 30.8 percent saw the biggest fall in profits among Am Law 100 firms.