He has been with Clifford Chance since 1991 based in its London and Hong Kong offices. While based in Hong Kong from 2013, he led the litigation and dispute resolution practice across Asia Pacific before returning to the London office in January 2017. He specialises in commercial dispute resolution and regulatory enforcement, particularly complex cross border disputes, investigations and advice in the financial sector.

'A great honour'

Commenting on the appointment, he said: ‘It is a great honour to be chosen to succeed Jeremy, who is a very hard act to follow. I look forward to working with my colleagues around the world as we help clients to deal with the most complex and critical challenges they face.’

Handover

Jeremy Sandelson, who has been in the role for two terms since 2009, was previously Regional Managing Partner for Clifford Chance in the UK and the Middle East from 2005 and will remain involved in the leadership of the group during a handover period before stepping back from the role towards the end of 2017, to continue to focus on client work and other projects.

'A great leader'

Clifford Chance Managing Partner Matthew Layton added: ‘I know that Matthew will make a great leader for our pre-eminent litigation, dispute resolution and risk management practice. I would also like to thank Jeremy for his superb work leading this first-class global team that has worked on some of the most high-profile and challenging disputes and risks our clients face. This practice has never been stronger and I look forward to working with Matthew to build on these foundations.’

500 lawyers worldwide

Clifford Chance's global litigation and dispute resolution practice has around 500 lawyers based in the UK, continental Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and the United States advising clients from a range of sectors including Citi, News Group Newspapers, Raytheon, Airbus, ZTE Corporation, Standard and Poor's and Autonomy founder, Mike Lynch.