Clifford Chance Rogers & Wells, the world's largest law firm, has hired one mergers and acquisitions partner to its New York office and added a team of five corporate finance lawyers to its Tokyo joint venture office, as part of its global expansion effort.

Clifford Chance is intent on providing a global M&A practice which has the ability to handle most of the world's different legal jurisdictions. Richard Pritz has joined Clifford Chance's global corporate practice in New York from Dewey Ballantine, a US law firm with one of the 10 largest M&A teams in New York. Pritz's arrival is a sign that the firm is looking to boost the size and reputation of the US end of its global corporate team.