Clifford Chance (CC) has revamped its associate development scheme in a bid to maximise the partnership potential of its senior lawyers.

The magic circle firm has rolled out a new programme – dubbed the Academy Development Centre – to boost the commercial nous of its senior associates in a bid to better prepare them for partnership.

The scheme is aimed at lawyers with five to six years' post-qualification experience and will develop their skills across three main areas: business, clients and people.

The first of the two-day courses will be run in London this week, and expanded out to each of CC's overseas offices over the course of the year.

At the end of the course, each associate will be given individual feedback and a personal development plan. CC will also follow up on the course with each associate after six months and again after two years to identify areas of improvement.

The programme was trialled in Asia last year following a review of the firm's career development and training. It runs in addition to CC's senior associate induction course, which aims to prepare associates for the increasing management role they will play.

CC learning and development partner Julia Clarke is leading the scheme with assistance from recently retired partners.

Clarke said: "The improved development programme is an effort to link our formal training with the practical steps that the associate needs to take in order to develop necessary commercial skills. It adds structure to the process and also allows us to follow up and offer more support."