Clifford Chance sets up offices in Turkey and establishes significant presence in Australia
Clifford Chance has a track record in advising domestic and international clients on Turkish-related matters and has been present in Turkey for more than 30 years."We are well placed to provide clients with an in-depth understanding of the local market, as well as access to our widely respected cross-border transactional expertise. Now we have a permanent presence on the ground, we have an even stronger platform to service clients investing in the region." Clifford Chance partner, Simon Williams, will head the office, working closely with Mete Yegin who will provide Turkish legal advice to clients through affiliated firm, Yegin Legal Consultancy.
In the same time, Clifford Chance has ambitious plans to extend in Asia and is going to merge with Australia's two leading boutique law firms, Chang, Pistilli & Simmons in Sydney and Cochrane Lishman Carson Luscombe in Perth. The mergers will take effect from 1 May 2011 and are among the first steps in the delivery of an ambitious growth strategy for Asia, with plans to double regional revenues for the Firm through investment in new offices, talent and practices. "With over 30 years' experience in the region, the Firm has a strong foundation on which to build an enhanced network, capable of servicing the growth in business out of and into Asia," said Peter Charlton, Clifford Chance's Head of Asia.
David Childs, Clifford Chance managing partner, stated that, "Many of our clients are increasing their focus on growth markets and, as a result, the response to our plans for Istanbul has been very positive. This is one of a series of investments that the firm has announced in the past few months, including a new office in Qatar, our Australian mergers and ambitious growth plans for Asia, which demonstrate our intention to establish the right geographical profile to meet clients' evolving needs."
Clifford Chance opened an office in Romania in June 2006, in association with Badea & Asociaţii, a Romanian local firm, founded by Daniel Badea and Nadia Badea in 2002. Owing to the success of the partnership, the two firms subsequently decided to merge as of 1 May 2009. The merge was a natural step in the development of the firm and consolidated the excellent collaboration, based on mutual standards, clients and approaches. Badea Clifford Chance is a combination between a powerful global brand, Clifford Chance and a local firm and is currently managed by Daniel Badea.
The Bucharest office has 3 partners (Daniel Badea, Nadia Badea and Perry Zizzi) supported by an international team of 45 Romanian, American and Canadian lawyers.