Pillsbury faces management shake-up as Cranston quits

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 end 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 boost the firm’s team in Washington DC.

The all-female management team have been bold about stating their desires for a tranatlantic merger, which would have made the firm one of the world’s largest.

While the firm has grown hugely, profits have never been as high as some of the firm's competitors, an issue that will be left to Cranston and Park’s successors.