Female management team at Pillsbury draws to a close

West Coast giant Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman is set for a full-scale overhaul of its management following the decision of charismatic chair Mary Cranston to step down when her term ends in December.

Managing partner Marina Park has also said she is considering her future, bringing a dramatic end to the pair's seven-year management partnership.

Cranston and Park have led the firm through a series of transformative mergers. Cranston's West Coast Pillsbury Madison & Sutro merged with New York's Winthrop Stimson Putnam & Roberts in 2001.

Last year, Pillsbury took over Shaw Pittman to significantly boost the firm's Washington DC office. The merger added almost $200m (£112.5m) to the bottom line, taking the firm's total revenue to more than $600m (£337.8m).

The all-female management team has been bold about stating its desire for a transatlantic merger, which would have made the firm one of the world's largest.

While the firm has grown hugely, average profit per equity partner is still less than $1m (£563,000), lagging well behind some of the firm's competitors. It is an issue that will be left to Cranston's and Park's successors.