Clifford Chance (CC) is gearing up for a series of senior leadership elections with David Childs expected to stand for re-election as the City giant's managing partner.

Childs is viewed as likely to stand for a second four-year term at the firm's helm, with elections due to take place this autumn. If Childs were to stand successfully, he would start his second term in May 2010.

Other management positions coming to an end include London managing partner, where Jeremy Sandelson's role is due to end at the close of this year, and general counsel, as Chris Perrin's term is due to expire at the same time as Childs' in April 2010.

The firm is also set to vote on practice head roles for real estate and tax, pensions and employment, with both terms set to end on 31 December 2009. CC is in addition reviewing the position of global litigation and dispute resolution head, which became vacant when Mark Kirsch left to join Gibson Dunn & Crutcher in May.

Childs was elected into the firm's top management role in 2006, after taking a chief operating officer brief in 2003 alongside his then role as head of corporate.

At the start of his tenure replacing Peter Cornell, Childs disbanded a high-level committee, formed by Cornell to devise a 10-year strategy for the firm, to take a more central personal role in driving strategy.

The last year has been difficult for CC, with profits dropping by 37% from £1.15m to £733,000. Childs has overseen a significant restructuring that is expected to see the firm's partner count reduce by 15% over the current financial year with redundancies leading to around 350 associate and support staff positions going globally.

Despite the challenges facing CC, Childs has been well-regarded internally

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