Taylor Wessing managing partner to step down

Taylor Wessing's managing partner of five years Michael Frawley has announced he will stand down from the post.

His term will expire in August 2009, with elections for his replacement set to end in March.

Frawley will return to his roots as a partner in the insolvency group.

Likely candidates for his replacement could include those in the new divisional director positions, which were created when Frawley slashed the firm's UK management team in a bid to streamline decision-making processes (The Lawyer, 8 September 2008).

The divisional directors, who report directly to Frawley and also sit on the firm's international management board, include finance partner Rodney Dukes, private equity partner Tim Eyles and IP partner Charles Lloyd.

They will sit on the international management board alongside Frawley. HR director Jonathan Croucher has become practice director, a hybrid role between chief operating officer and HR director.

Taylor Wessing also recently re-elected its senior partner Martin Winter to serve another three-year term (TheLawyer.com, 28 October 2008).

Winter said in a statement: "Michael has done a great job. In this rapidly changing market five years is a long time in the life of a law firm… With 270 partners, 1300 staff and 12 offices in six jurisdictions the firm is a very different entity from 2004 when Michael took over. He has played an outstanding role in achieving these developments."

To receive our free Lawyer News Daily news and comment email, click here. Or get the latest news, features and comment as it's published with our free RSS feed.