Clifford Chance (CC) is reviewing its German operations, which could lead to the departures of up to nine partners across its offices in the country.

The review comes after the firm's summer appointment of corporate partner Peter Dieners to lead the German practice, which includes offices in Munich, Frankfurt and Duesseldorf.

Dieners is thought to be assessing all of the firm's practice groups in the country and is in discussions with a number of partners about their career prospects. However it is understood that the review is also being held with a view to recruiting more talent.

Dieners was named as CC's Germany managing partner as part of a wide-ranging overhaul of its global management in July, which involved cutting its management committee line-up from 16 seats to 12.

He replaced fellow corporate partner Andreas Dietzel in the role. Dietzel now manages the Frankfurt office.

The German offices include 350 lawyers, including 83 partners. Clients include Volkswagen, Siemens, KfW, Allianz, Coca-Cola, Metro, Airbus (EADS), Pfizer, RWE and Deutsche Bank.