US firm Weil Gotshal & Manges has expanded its management committee to include its first-ever German member on the 16-partner board.

German senior partner Gerhard Schmidt was elected on to the strategy body at the beginning of the month, in an election that saw four other members re-elected to serve three more years.

Munich-based private equity heavyweight Schmidt, who joined from German firm Beiten Burkhardt in 2001, becomes the third European partner on the board.

He will sit on the body alongside Paris head Claude Serra and London managing partner Mike Francies.

Richard Rothman, co-head of the complex commercial litigation practice group, litigation chief James Quinn, Marcia Goldstein, co-chair of the business finance and restructuring department, and Francies all retained their positions on the committee.

The group meets in person twice a month and is headed by firm chair Stephen Dannhauser, who has held the position since 2002.

The appointment of Schmidt comes as part of a wider push by the Wall Street firm to give its European partners more of a voice in the firm's future strategy.

Last month, Weil Gotshal included seven European-based lawyers in its round of 20 partner promotions.

Weil Gotshal chief financial officer Norman LaCroix commented: "We are very happy to add another European member to the management committee. The current complexion of the committee is a good reflection of the make-up of the firm."

In October, US rival Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw gave its European arm a stronger voice in the firm with the announcement that London senior partner Paul Maher will join general counsel James Holzhauer and Washington DC chief Kenneth Geller in a top-level management position next spring.