Clifford Chance Names Tech Lawyer Houston Office Managing Partner

Tech and intellectual property lawyer Devika Kornbacher will lead Clifford Chance’s new energy and infrastructure-focused hub in Houston.

Kornbacher joined Clifford Chance as partner and co-head of its tech group last year after almost 16 years at Houston-founded law firm Vinson & Elkins. She has taken on the role of Houston office managing partner the firm said Tuesday.

Kornbacher, who is licensed in Texas and New York, will distribute her time between those offices and other Clifford Chance locations. She attended the University of Houston, and after a stint in the Northeast to attend Harvard Law School, returned to Texas, per her LinkedIn bio.

“I’ve now lived in Texas longer than I’ve lived anywhere else, so I very much so feel like a Houstonian,” Kornbacher said. “I am a Rockets fan. I’m a Texans fan, for better or for worse. I’m one of the first season ticket holders for the Houston Dynamo.”

UK-founded Clifford Chance announced its new Houston office with 10 partners in June. It was made up of seven lateral hires and three Clifford Chance lawyers as part of its strategic expansion in the US. Kornbacher and Alexander Leff relocated from the firm’s New York location and Anthony Giustini from Paris.

“We’re looking at a strategy of focusing on where our clients need us to be and that’s what led us to Houston,” said regional managing partner for the Americas Sharis Pozen in a recent interview with Bloomberg Law. “We plan to continue to grow that office,” Pozen said.

“We want to be larger,” said Kornbacher of the Houston office. “What that exact number is, I think would be a mistake for me to say right now, because without the right mix it is also not success. What it will look like is a group of partners, associates and business professionals that are Clifford Chance, not partners from X or staff from X.”