Following its latest set of financial results, Clifford Chance has launched two new innovation units as part of an evolution in the firm's best delivery and innovation strategy. The firm has created two new units named ‘Clifford Chance Applied Solutions’ and ‘Clifford Chance Create.’ The units are supported by an updated leadership and governance structure with a new best delivery and innovation leadership group mandated by the firm's Executive Leadership Group and chaired by Clifford Chance managing partner, Matthew Layton. Bas Boris Visser, the firm's Global Head of Innovation and Business Change, will chair both Clifford Chance Applied Solutions and Clifford Chance Create. The group will set priorities, targets and allocate investment to support the firm's strategic goal of delivering client service and optimising use of the firm's knowledge capability and smart technology. The aim is to deploy the right resources and best processes, and embrace innovation and new ways of working.

Products and services

Products in the Clifford Chance Applied Solutions suite will be run in separate ventures and using a range of flexible business models that will enable more effective roll-out. Existing products, such as CCDr@ft and the firm's MiFID II compliance tool, will become part of this unit. Clifford Chance Create will bring together the firm's initiatives that underpin its innovation ecosystem and includes a new cloud-based platform, Clifford Chance Labs, which will foster internal idea generation and interdisciplinary solution development. The firm's existing innovation-focused collaborations will also come under the umbrella of Clifford Chance Create, including the Barclays Eagle Lab and partnerships with universities such as the current secondment programme of data scientists from UCL. Clifford Chance Create will also lead the firm's support for legaltech start-ups.