Is Cheyne the next in line to lead Linklaters?
Is there going to be a standoff between finance and corporate at Linklaters? As we revealed in our weekly news email last Wednesday, Linklaters’ head of corporate David Cheyne is stepping down, ostensibly to return to full-time client work. However, as any fule kno, his eye is on the role of senior partner, replacing Anthony Cann later this year. Cheyne is playing his cards close to his chest, but all his corporate colleagues would be delighted to run his campaign for him. Cheyne engenders fantastic loyalty, not least at the way he’s championed younger partners and shoehorned them into his own client relationships. The block corporate vote at Linklaters has historically held sway, but this time round there’s a new factor. The finance practice has been rejuvenated in the past five years through a mix of ferociously committed client management and some eye-catching lateral hires. For example, in 2003 it generated fabulously good figures, while the corporate group struggled – indeed, the
