Clifford Chance has announced the appointment of Charles Adams as new Regional Managing Partner for Continental Europe, succeeding Yves Wehrli, with a four-year term to begin on April 1, 2018.
Wehrli, who had completed the maximum number of terms he could serve representing the region, will continue in his current position as Office Managing Partner for the firm's Paris office.
According to Clifford Chance, Adams "is recognized as one of the leading banking and finance lawyers specializing in Italian and cross-border financings. From 2007 to 2014 Charles was the Office Managing Partner for Clifford Chance's Italian practice, with offices in Milan and Rome, and was a Continental European partner representative on the firm's former Management Committee from 2013 until 2014. Charles returned to Milan in January, having spent over two years based in the firm's New York office, supporting the strategic progress of Clifford Chance's Americas practice, particularly in Latin America. In his new role, Charles will remain co-head of the firm's Italian Finance and Capital Markets group, and continue to be actively involved in client-facing work from Milan."
Clifford Chance Managing Partner Matthew Layton commented that: "Yves has done an excellent job over the past four years. While we have always had a well-respected European platform, the combined strength of our capability across offices, practices, and sectors has never been so compelling. Yves takes the credit for driving change in the region, working tirelessly with the other leaders in the region, particularly Peter Dieners, as the RMP for our German practice. Charles takes up the reins with our Continental Europe offering in excellent shape. Charles is passionate about our clients, the firm and how our Continental European team will continue to deliver a service that will make us stand out against the competition in a fast-evolving and important market for so many of our clients regionally and across the globe. I look forward to working with him."
Yves Wehrli commented: "It has been a real honor and a privilege to have held the RMP post. We have made huge progress over that time, especially in ensuring that our clients and our people globally understand the combined potential of our 16 market-leading offices in the region. I would particularly like to thank the partners in the region for their hard work and support. This has been absolutely fundamental to our success."
Finally, Charles Adams commented, "Nurturing our position in this strategically important region is a priority for the firm. That includes ensuring that we forge ever-stronger bonds with our colleagues in other regions, notably in the Americas and Asia Pacific. Europe's future is intertwined with that of the wider global economy, and we are better placed than any other law firm to help clients capitalize successfully on the opportunities that brings. It is an exciting time to take on this role and I look forward to working with our teams globally to reinforce our position as market-leaders."
