The head of an influential alliance of corporate general counsel has expressed concern at the soaring tally of City firm redundancies, as Clifford Chance became the first magic circle firm to announce it will cut partners.

Peter Maynard, legal director and company secretary at Prudential and chair of GC100, which represents in-house lawyers at FTSE 100 companies, is worried a ‘knowledge gap’ will hit companies like his own.

‘I am worried about the impact of the current economic climate on private practice,’ he told the Gazette. ‘Firms appear to be reorganising their businesses significantly.’

He said that the creation of a knowledge gap could hit corporate clients’ bottom lines when the recession ends, as firms will have to channel income into training new lawyers. ‘When the upturn comes, that experience is going to have to be replaced, and clients will not want to have to fund the cost of re-education.’

Last week, Clifford Chance said it will ‘review the shape and size of the firm’s partnership’, with a firm-wide review ‘likely to result in an overall reduction in partner numbers’. The firm announced early in January that 70 to 80 of its London lawyers will be made redundant.

Global managing partner David Childs said in a statement: ‘The most successful organisations are those that adapt and evolve and that is what we are doing. To achieve the firm’s strategic objectives we need to reflect the changes we see in our clients’ businesses today and invest in those areas that we believe will be important to them and to us tomorrow.’

Linklaters announced last month that it would cut 100 to 120 lawyers, but did not say how many partners will be affected. The remaining three magic circle firms – Freshfields, Allen & Overy and Slaughter and May – had not announced any redundancies as the Gazette went to press.