City leader woos private clients

City giant Clifford Chance has re-opened its private client department - nine years after it was disbanded.

Tax partner Murray North has been charged with rebuilding the group as an international service to private clients in the wake of Clifford Chance's mergers with US firm Rogers & Wells and German firm Pnder Volhard Weber & Axster on 1 January this year.

He is being supported by private client partners John Dadakis in New York and Manfred Benkert in Frankfurt.Clifford Chance is one of a raft of top City firms that relinquished their private client service in the past decade, including Freshfields, Slaughter and May, Norton Rose, Rowe & Maw and most recently Masons.

However, both of Clifford Chance's international brides have strong private client departments, which has been the driver for the group's re-instatement as a core practice area.A Clifford Chance spokesman said the group will target three core areas: very wealthy business families, executives from major corporations and financial institutions, and private global banks.

It will advise on risk management, tax planning and international wealth management.

The spokesman said: 'The merger has provided new opportunities for the group to advise more internationally.

Post-merger we will integrate them.'Clifford Chance's dedicated private client lawyers left the firm, or moved to different departments in 1991.

One former member of the department said: 'They had no clients left.

It was disbanded.

It was clear that they didn't want to do private client work any more.'The move may prove to be a blow to mid-sized City firms Lawrence Graham and Withers, whose profitable private client departments have so far cashed in on referrals from the City giant.

Anne Mizzi