Clifford Chance appoints new global chief operating officer

Clifford Chance has appointed Gavin Goodwin as its new global chief operating officer.

Reporting to the global managing partner Charles Adams, Goodwin will be responsible for the firm's global operations. He will work with Jessica Littlewood who was recently appointed as global partner for operations and business transformation in driving operational excellence, as well as accelerating the firm's growth strategy.

Goodwin has been with the firm for 25 years and held several leadership roles across multiple offices, including London, New York, Milan and Dubai. Most recently, he was the chief operating officer for Continental Europe, Middle East and Africa. He brings a wealth of global experience in driving business transformation and operational excellence, as well as deep knowledge of the legal industry.

"Our operations are critical to fully leveraging our talent, and depth and breadth of the expertise across our extensive global network,” said Adams. “Gavin and Jessica will work together to drive further optimisation and continuous modernisation of our operational processes. We are going to continue investing in this area, with focus on the new ways of managing data and further digitalisation to drive global consistency and efficiency in delivering outstanding legal expertise to our clients.

"I also want to thank Caroline Firstbrook, our outgoing chief operating Officer, for her many contributions over the years and building a tremendous foundation for our operational excellence”. Firstbrook is leaving at the end of October after seven years in the role. She has not yet announced her next career move.