Clifford Chance (CC) last week re-elected senior partner Malcolm Sweeting for a second four-year term starting in January 2015. Having won a contested three-way election in 2010, the unopposed vote this time round appears to have been a much more serene affair.

But Sweeting sees more concrete challenges ahead than he did as a management ingenue four years ago. He admits to being "slightly naive going into the role", candidly adding that he was perhaps not as attuned to how the wider economy and changes in the legal market affected the firm as he should have been.

"At the time of my initial election I accept I had a Panglossian view of the world and the challenges we faced," Sweeting tells Legal Week. "I had not truly appreciated the far-reaching and long-lasting issues in the global economy […] and the fundamental challenges that our clients, [the firm] and the legal market would face over the following four years."

He adds that the market is "undergoing fundamental change that is being driven by clients". One significant consequence of this change could be a review of CC's longstanding commitment to its traditional partner remuneration structure.

In an interview with Legal Week in 2011, Sweeting asserted he could not see any persuasive arguments in favour of altering CC's lockstep system. This time round, however, he accepts that the model faces increasing challenges.

"Firms need to think carefully about how they structure compensation in response to the trends of globalisation and intense competition for the very best talent globally," he says. "[Lockstep] remains central to the strong and supportive culture of our firm but that is not to say that current compensation structures will necessarily remain unchanged forever. It is something we must sensibly keep under review in a fast-changing environment."

Despite his new insight into the market, Sweeting's key objectives have carried over into his second term. Client work remains his top priority, but the increasing pace of regulation, globalisation and change in technology has caused him to be more mindful of shifting client requirements and, crucially, how the competition is handling them.

According to Sweeting, the rise of three new models for law firms over the past four years has presented substantial challenges to the way CC operates. He lists these as firms operating though global combinations, alternative business structures and the recent return of accounting firms into law firms' territory.

"The rise of these models is contributing to much greater competition and there is a clear imperative for the old global order to respond to survive and prosper in tomorrow's very different markets," he says.

In the meantime Sweeting has had ample opportunity to polish up his management style, which hinges on pushing partners outside their comfort zones.

"I deliberately aim to challenge our partners and make them feel slightly uncomfortable," he explains. "I think it is important for leadership to do this; it is something I have [learned] in the role. To say that there are no issues affecting the firm or its success would not be credible – partners would feel let down and disappointed by such a lack of intellectual rigour.

"The firm wants its leaders to be anticipating and responding to change in our markets and in our clients, as well as to understand the challenges partners face and to ensure they remain on their toes. But this goes hand-in-hand with instilling in all our people the confidence that they can succeed."

As the firm's ambassador, visibility among partners remains vital. With eight new offices opening since 2010, maintaining this entails racking up substantially more air miles.

CC's international coverage is likely to grow again in the next four years, though the locations may be different from those on the agenda in 2010. Sweeting is targeting more work from developing markets such as Nigeria, South Africa and Azerbaijan. This contrasts with  four years ago when Brazil and Russia were widely tipped as the key growth markets.

The shift in international focus demonstrates how much has changed between Sweeting first taking up office and now. In a post-recessionary environment that has also seen a fundamental shift in the delivery of legal services, Sweeting might expect to form a still worldlier view of the market by 2019.