World’s largest lawfirm is leaving California

The U.K. based law firm Clifford Chance is pulling out of California. According to San Francisco Business Times, the company, “wasn’t able to recruit lawyers from other firms. Legal recruiters said Clifford Chance’s difficulty may have stemmed from its pay structure. Clifford Chance, like many other British-based firms, uses a lockstep compensation system tied to seniority. That contrasts with the U.S. custom of paying partners based, at least in part, on the amount of business they generate for the firm. Over the years a number of Clifford Chance lawyers defected to other firms. Clifford Chance closed all its California locations except for Silicon Valley in 2004″. The company will still support California clients but its U.S. operations will be based in New York and Washington D.C.