Clifford Chance, is preparing to eliminate up to 50 London-based business services roles, roughly 10 percent of its London back-office cohort, in a move that underscores how generative artificial intelligence (AI) and offshore operations are reshaping Big Law.
According to the Financial Times, the redundancies will hit functions such as finance, HR and IT, with a further 35 roles undergoing scope changes. The firm says the shift is part of its broader “operations strengthening” strategy.
In a firm boasting partner earnings of about £2.1 million last year, when revenues rose 9 percent to £2.4 billion, the announcement might seem counter-intuitive, but the dynamics at play leave little room for nostalgia.
Among the key drives for the firm are –
- AI and automation pressure. Clients increasingly demand law firms show how they are deploying AI to lower cost, speed up delivery and sharpen service offerings. The FT reports that law firms are no longer just adopting AI, but their clients are expecting it.
- Off-shoring and shared service centres. In addition to AI, Clifford Chance cited the growth of its operations hubs in Warsaw and India as factors reducing the need for some London support roles.
- Cost-efficiency amid margin pressure. Even with strong financial results, the firm is under similar pressure to its peers to maximise efficiency in an era when every piece of value that isn’t billable is under the magnifying-glass.
The development means the job description of “business services” in large firms is now moving from “keep things ticking” to “drive transformation”. The roles that remain will likely be those aligned with data-analytics, AI-tool governance, vendor-management, or offshore hub management.
If Clifford Chance is acting, you can bet other firms are watching, or already implementing similar moves. It also reinforces how the marketing narrative (we’ve got an AI team) is becoming business-critical: as the FT put it, “law firms face growing pressure to show how they combine generative artificial intelligence tools with human expertise.”
