A&O votes to extend Morley's term as managing partner

Allen & Overy (A&O) partners have voted to extend managing partner David Morley’s tenure by another year to 2008.

Morley’s term of office began in December 2002 after his predecessor John Rink resigned early. Morley’s term will now run in parallel with the senior partner, a role currently occupied by Guy Beringer. Elections for the two posts will now take place in the spring of 2008.

Beringer, who has already served two terms as senior partner at A&O, cannot stand again under the current partnership constitution. The vote will therefore allow Morley flexibility to stand for senior partner in two years' time.

An A&O source said: “This minimises any potential disruption to the firm. The most sensible thing to do was to take out any uncertainty.

“Extending David’s term by a year just means we can all go back to work.”

The move began as a recommendation by the independent partner representatives on Allen & Overy’s board.

The board saw a shake-up itself earlier this year when only one member, Amsterdam corporate partner Sietze Hepkema, was re-elected.

The new partner representatives will serve for four years until April 2010.