Clifford Chance promotes María Sabau to the firm’s partnership

Clifford Chance has announced the promotion of Maria Sabau to de Global Financial Markets partner effective May 1, 2024, as part of Clifford Chance’s global network of partner appointments

Maria Sabau

With more than 17 years of experience, Maria Sabau is a member of the firm’s Global Financial Markets practice. She focuses her practice on infrastructure finance and leveraged finance, advising a wide range of clients in the banking sector as well as financial investors and participating in a large number of domestic and international transactions for both lenders and borrowers/sponsors.

Ms. Sabau has spent her entire professional career with the firm since 2007. She holds a degree in Law and Business Administration from the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas ICADE (Spain) and has studied at the École Supérieure de Commerce de Rouen (France).

Maria’s appointment is part of a global cohort of 29 partners worldwide. “The new partners highlight the strength and diversity of the best talent available to clients across the range of international markets, products and sectors aligned with the firm’s global growth strategy,” the firm shares.

Jaime Velázquez, Managing Partner of Clifford Chance in Spain, says: “María is a key member of our team and a clear reference of the type of leadership we promote as a firm. Her promotion to Partner is based not only on her technical excellence and hard work, but also on her strong commitment over the years to training and mentoring activities and business development initiatives that have earned her the trust of the firm’s clients.”

Key statistics

With respect to gender, 38% (11) of the promoted partners were women. The cumulative average over the past five years is 38%. The firm has set a target of at least 40% female and 40% male partners by 2030.

In terms of ethnicity, 20% of the 15 new U.S. and U.K. partners who disclosed their ethnicity identified themselves as partners from underrepresented ethnic minorities. For the third consecutive year, this exceeds the company’s target of 15% of new partners by 2025.

As of May 1, 2024, Clifford Chance’s global team will consist of 661 partners (up from 623 partners as of May 1, 2023).