Magic Circle firm Clifford Chance (CC) has seen multiple partner exits from its German operations in recent weeks with longstanding capital markets partner Markus Pfüller and trademark head Thorsten Vormann becoming the latest, leaving for SZA Schilling, Zutt & Anschütz and K&L Gates respectively.
Reasons suggested for the exodus, which has already seen at least nine lawyers leave including eight partners, point towards a long-term cultural and strategic divide between CC and the German firm it merged with in 2000, Pünder, Volhard, Weber & Axster. One partner at the firm says: ‘The majority of partners came from the 2000 merger with Pünder. There was a difference in culture and since the merger, things improved day-to-day but not on the general standing of what kind of clients we want to advise and where they come from. That has never been solved or overcome.’
However, some feel the exits have now helped address that problem. Guy Norman, global head of CC’s corporate group, said: ‘We created what was initially quite a large German practice that needed bedding in and maybe it produced something of a scale which in view of the downturn was bigger than we needed. It’s been a success and put us in a position where we wouldn’t have got organically but it’s changed back in scale due to the markets. We’ve got a trimmed platform now to drive it forward. People in the firm would say Pünder is not a regret.’
‘We’ve got a trimmed platform now to drive it forward. People in the firm would say Pünder is not a regret.’
Guy Norman, CC
Vormann and Pfüller’s moves come after several significant departures from CC’s German operations in recent months, including CC’s co-private equity head Oliver Felsenstein to Latham & Watkins and German corporate head Arndt Stengel to Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy.
The exits follow a strategic review carried out by German head Peter Dieners that expected up to nine partners to leave but one partner asserts CC’s corporate practice in Germany has been suffering for some time: ‘The German partners have focused on German corporate clients, German or international investment banks operating out of Germany, and it has done a good job. But the London office of CC has a different view. They want to service international investment banks based in London. That works well in Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Spain. But it simply didn’t work in Germany because it was too big and too proud.’
sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk