Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Clifford Chance, the world’s biggest law firm by revenue, will cut as many as 80 lawyers in London citing market conditions amid the slowing global economy.

The London-based firm, which has about 1,000 lawyers in the U.K., will be making job cuts across all practice areas, said Anna Ward, a spokeswoman in an interview. The job losses are in addition to 20 litigators in New York and Washington who were laid off in October.

The world’s largest law firms are being forced to adapt to the collapse of the M&A boom and capital markets advice that buoyed profits over the last five years. Clifford Chance became the first global firm to fire lawyers in the past 18 months when it dismissed six New York associates who worked on mortgage- backed securities in the structured finance practice.

“We have to respond to prevailing market conditions,” said Jeremy Sandelson, managing partner of Clifford Chance’s London office. “Our clients and their legal services needs have undergone significant change over the past year. We need to reflect that in the London office”.

Only salaried lawyers known as associates will be affected, said Ward. Partners, trainees and those qualifying as lawyers with the firm in March won’t be affected, she said.

Since the first Clifford Chance cuts in November 2007, firms including Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft and Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal have also fired associates. Thacher Proffitt & Wood, a 160-year-old New York firm, said it will close this year.

Clifford Chance has more than 3,800 lawyers across the world and reported an 11.3 percent rise in revenue to 1.3 billion pounds ($2 billion) for the year ended April 30. Partners traditionally share in law firm profits rather than taking a salary.

The job cuts won’t include the firm’s support services, Clifford Chance said. So-called business services will be subject to a separate review, it said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Caroline Binham in London at cbinham@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 8, 2009 06:53 EST