When Simon Davies was officially crowned as Linklaters' new firm-wide managing partner last week (2 February) more than a few eyebrows were raised across the City.

Compared with heavyweight contenders like capital markets head Nick Eastwell and banking chief John Tucker, Davies was a relative unknown after spending more than a decade in Asia. And then there is his age - at 39 he will become the firm's youngest-ever managing partner.

But internally his appointment has been greeted with rather less surprise. He had proven himself in management - taking on the Asia managing partner job in 2003 and getting a say in the firm's strategy through his role on the firm's executive committee.

In person he is confident, articulate and, as one rival memorably remarked last week, "very, very smooth". He also has a good relationship with both outgoing managing partner Tony Angel and senior partner David Cheyne. He had dinner with Angel earlier this week and was rushing straight from his interview with Legal Week to a meeting with Cheyne.

Nevertheless, Davies is keen to scotch claims that he will struggle to assert himself against the forceful Cheyne.

"I am very comfortable that I can stand up to David," says Davies. "You would not be elected [to this job] if you could not have a good relationship with the senior partner."

Much has also been made of the assumption that Cheyne will place a more explicit focus on corporate - which generated 40% of the firm's revenues last year - at the expense of finance.

Indeed, some have interpreted Cheyne's support for Davies as evidence of a shift towards corporate, arguing that the initially-touted lead candidate Eastwell would have provided more muscular support for finance.

Davies responds: "I do not think it is true that we will put more emphasis on corporate than finance. I would expect corporate to stay as broadly the same percentage of the firm, but I think finance will grow - particularly banking and structured finance."

The firm is currently consulting on its next three-year plan, which is due to come into effect this year, and, despite not officially taking over from Angel until January 2008, Davies is already heavily involved. Key issues include growth in Asia and the US where, for the time being, lateral hiring is the aim, rather than a merger.

Other priorities can be gleaned from the two main themes of Davies' managing partner campaign: clients and people.

"Investing in people is increasingly important to the new generation of lawyers," he says. "Partners invariably underestimate the pressures on associates, so I will be spending time with them to understand their needs and find out what we can do to support them."

It is something Davies feels strongly about. Under his leadership in Asia, the firm has increased the amount of time associates spend in training by 90% over the last two years. It also introduced childcare benefits to retain female lawyers, a stance Davies promises to support across the firm.

He says: "Professional service firms are haemorrhaging female talent... I would want to see more part-time working being made available. We have some part-time partners and I would be happy to see more. [My age] works in my favour - it makes me more in touch with what the new generation of lawyers want."

Davies is inheriting a firm in a strong position - during Angel's reign average profits per partner have gone up to more than £1m and turnover is this year set to break £1bn.

But that does not mean he will have an easy ride. Even leaving aside the need to build a constructive relationship with Cheyne, Davies has two obvious challenges: after Angel, following a very hard act; and leading the firm in the event of a downturn.

But at least Davies will be armed with plenty of lessons from his predecessor.

He concludes: "Tony has done a terrific job, but there is no room for complacency. One of the first things I will be doing is looking at the costs and satisfying myself that there is nothing left to do."

When Simon Davies was officially crowned as Linklaters' new firm-wide managing partner last week (2 February) more than a few eyebrows were raised across the City.

Compared with heavyweight contenders like capital markets head Nick Eastwell and banking chief John Tucker, Davies was a relative unknown after spending more than a decade in Asia. And then there is his age - at 39 he will become the firm's youngest-ever managing partner.

But internally his appointment has been greeted with rather less surprise. He had proven himself in management - taking on the Asia managing partner job in 2003 and getting a say in the firm's strategy through his role on the firm's executive committee.

In person he is confident, articulate and, as one rival memorably remarked last week, "very, very smooth". He also has a good relationship with both outgoing managing partner Tony Angel and senior partner David Cheyne. He had dinner with Angel earlier this week and was rushing straight from his interview with Legal Week to a meeting with Cheyne.

Nevertheless, Davies is keen to scotch claims that he will struggle to assert himself against the forceful Cheyne.

"I am very comfortable that I can stand up to David," says Davies. "You would not be elected [to this job] if you could not have a good relationship with the senior partner."

Much has also been made of the assumption that Cheyne will place a more explicit focus on corporate - which generated 40% of the firm's revenues last year - at the expense of finance.

Indeed, some have interpreted Cheyne's support for Davies as evidence of a shift towards corporate, arguing that the initially-touted lead candidate Eastwell would have provided more muscular support for finance.

Davies responds: "I do not think it is true that we will put more emphasis on corporate than finance. I would expect corporate to stay as broadly the same percentage of the firm, but I think finance will grow - particularly banking and structured finance."

The firm is currently consulting on its next three-year plan, which is due to come into effect this year, and, despite not officially taking over from Angel until January 2008, Davies is already heavily involved. Key issues include growth in Asia and the US where, for the time being, lateral hiring is the aim, rather than a merger.

Other priorities can be gleaned from the two main themes of Davies' managing partner campaign: clients and people.

"Investing in people is increasingly important to the new generation of lawyers," he says. "Partners invariably underestimate the pressures on associates, so I will be spending time with them to understand their needs and find out what we can do to support them."

It is something Davies feels strongly about. Under his leadership in Asia, the firm has increased the amount of time associates spend in training by 90% over the last two years. It also introduced childcare benefits to retain female lawyers, a stance Davies promises to support across the firm.

He says: "Professional service firms are haemorrhaging female talent... I would want to see more part-time working being made available. We have some part-time partners and I would be happy to see more. [My age] works in my favour - it makes me more in touch with what the new generation of lawyers want."

Davies is inheriting a firm in a strong position - during Angel's reign average profits per partner have gone up to more than £1m and turnover is this year set to break £1bn.

But that does not mean he will have an easy ride. Even leaving aside the need to build a constructive relationship with Cheyne, Davies has two obvious challenges: after Angel, following a very hard act; and leading the firm in the event of a downturn.

But at least Davies will be armed with plenty of lessons from his predecessor.

He concludes: "Tony has done a terrific job, but there is no room for complacency. One of the first things I will be doing is looking at the costs and satisfying myself that there is nothing left to do."