Clifford Chance (CC) is attempting to position itself as the top law firm for advice on post-financial crisis regulatory issues with a new partner training scheme.

The firm has launched a firmwide education scheme, dubbed 'Sea of Change', which will see all client relationship partners trained to provide regulatory advice to clients, including those who are not part of the firm's specialist regulatory group.

The programme, which is being led by managing partner David Childs and co-ordinated by London managing partner David Bickerton (pictured), will see the firm roll out internal training on recent global regulatory developments, with a particular emphasis on financial services.

The initiative will involve workshops, briefings and presentations, while CC will also produce podcasts, which will be made available on the firm's intranet.

Bickerton said: "The post-financial crisis regulatory changes that are being brought in globally potentially mark the most interesting and important development for the legal sector for years.

"Because of the scope of the changes, the advice will be led by our frontline partners who know our clients best and will be able to give focused and actionable advice. This will enable us to deliver on the scale that reflects the opportunity and change that our clients will face."

The programme is heavily geared towards regulatory changes in the financial services industry, focusing in particular on the Basel III standards for bank capital, the Dodd-Frank reforms of US financial regulation, as well as European Union solvency and insurance regulations.