Clifford Chance (CC) has elected head of US finance and restructuring Evan Cohen as its new US managing partner.

New York-based Cohen will step into the leadership role for a four-year term, which will kick off on 1 May. Current regional managing partner Craig Medwick will return to the corporate practice on 30 April, after the end of his second term.

The role as Americas head involves overseeing the firm's bases in New York, Sao Paolo and Washington DC.

Cohen, who has headed the local finance and restructuring practice since 2005, has acted on mandates including Sanofi-Aventis' $20.1bn (£12.8bn) acquisition of US company Genzyme. Cohen's successor as head of US finance is not yet known.

Cohen, who joined CC in 1999, has also spent eight years in the firm's Hong Kong office.

Firm managing partner David Childs said in a statement: "I want to extend my congratulations to Evan – a superb partner who is well known, liked and respected across our firm. I also want to thank Craig for his eight years of strong leadership."

Medwick originally took over the role in 2005 from litigation partner John Carroll, who defected from CC's Americas practice in 2008 to Skadden Arps Meagher Slate & Flom.

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