Clifford Chance (CC) senior partner Malcolm Sweeting is certainly no Stuart Popham.

Popham, a born public speaker, who many suggest would have made a brilliant politician, ended his eight years as senior partner with a strong profile in industry that reflected the figurehead style he brought to the role.

In contrast, Sweeting's electoral platform was a very different one. As a self-proclaimed "guardian of the partnership culture", Sweeting's take on the role is much more internal-facing. Indeed, one of the City finance partner's key objectives during his first nine months in office has been to ensure he is constantly visible to the partners and that they know what he is up to.

"As senior partner you can pretty much set the agenda yourself, which is why I wouldn't try to replicate what Stuart was doing," says Sweeting.

"[For me] it's not just about preserving a business model, but a culture, where partners feel that they are involved and valued, rather than just doing what they are told. I think it is a valuable trait of law firms that people in other organisations are envious of and that this culture is worth protecting."

Since he took up the post in January, Sweeting has racked up many air miles in a bid to be seen walking the corridors of the firm's global offices. He also wants to keep partners involved in decisions affecting the business rather than shifting towards a more corporate management style, with leaders making strategic decisions without any input from below.

"The important thing is to make sure that communication with partners is very much both ways. It is important to make sure partners know what you are doing and are being consulted and that you don't become too remote to discuss matters with the wider partnership," he continues.

"There are different ways of doing this. It could be walking the halls of all the offices worldwide on a regular basis, or sending out notes on a regular basis asking for views on various ideas and initiatives."

The timing of Sweeting's term also looks likely to set him apart from his predecessor, who at least had the benefit of the boom markets before having to preside, alongside managing partner David Childs, over one of the most difficult periods in CC's recent history – a restructuring that saw the firm cut 15% of its global partnership during 2009-10.

Having taken over from Popham in the heart of the downturn, Sweeting jokes: "If I had known what economic developments would have taken place by this point in 2011 I would have probably thought twice about taking the job! Although, having said that, I find it especially interesting under these circumstances."

But perhaps the area where most CC partners predict Sweeting will set himself apart is in his involvement in the firm's strategy. Under CC's governance structure, Childs and the management committee are responsible for setting out the firm's strategy as well as implementing it, while Sweeting's partnership council has traditionally been mainly an oversight body.

However, partners suggest the current members of the partnership council are unlikely to sit back quietly while decisions are taken by others.

Sweeting was one of the key drivers behind the firm's move to open an office in Istanbul earlier this year, and internally he is viewed as unlikely to stay silent on the firm's expansion plans in other growth markets.

One partner comments: "That would be the noticeable difference between Malcolm and Stuart. No-one is expecting him to stop pushing the emerging markets agenda."

Certainly, international expansion is a subject close to Sweeting's heart, with one of his key goals for his tenure including shifting the view of CC as a London-centric firm to becoming a "truly global firm".

In practice, he says, this will see the firm targeting client-winning efforts on the Fortune Global 500 rather than the FTSE 100, as well as setting their sights on more ambitious goals such as making CC recognised as a leading firm for inbound and outbound work in mainland China.

"I am sure that we will have a better geographic spread when my four-year term is over," he says, adding: "The Chinese proverb 'may you live in interesting times' comes to mind. While I had expected my tenure to be interesting, I could not have foreseen that so many challenging economic events would have occurred in such a short period of time. This has made our focus on growth markets even more urgent."

But while keen to build up from CC's London roots, there is one area where Sweeting has no plans to let go of tradition.

In keeping with his role as guardian of the partnership culture, Sweeting insists he will continue championing the lockstep remuneration model. Although technically it is an area that lies with Childs and the management committee, Sweeting promises he has no intention of ushering in changes to the lockstep, despite the fact that growing numbers of firms, including magic circle rivals Allen & Overy, Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, are 
reviewing their schemes.

"Our partners are happy with the lockstep model and I haven't seen anything that persuades me that we need to alter it," says Sweeting. "Not only will I not be pushing for this now, I also don't anticipate that I will while I am senior partner. Lawyers are really lucky to be working in a profession with a partnership culture rather than a corporate structure."

Despite his limited decision-making mandate, if CC's partnership is right, Sweeting is likely to get his way.

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Career timeline

1979 Graduates from London Polytechnic with a degree in business law
1982 Qualifies after training at Stephenson Harwood
1983 Joins Clifford Chance
1990 Makes partner
1991-93 Sits on the partnership council
January 2011 Takes up four-year term as senior partner