Herbert Smith is set to kick off a leadership election in November as David Gold's term as senior partner comes to an end.

Gold's five -year management stint is set to draw to a close at the end of April 2010 and it is thought unlikely that he will stand again, although he has yet to give any formal indication.

Meanwhile, managing partner David Willis, who was elected into his role last April, has had his term extended until 2011.

Willis's term was initially set to expire at the same time as Gold's; however, it is believed to have been extended so the firm could avoid holding two leadership elections at the same time and to provide continuity.

Willis commented: "This is all very speculative. It is unlikely that David will stand again but it is way off him having make a decision about it. In the autumn we will look at the process for the next senior partner election."

Herbert Smith reintroduced the managing partner role last year for the first time since the 1990s in order to relieve some of Gold's workload. Willis took on operational management and strategic implementation issues and chairs the executive committee, while Gold is responsible for the limited liability partnership council.

Last week Herbert Smith announced its revenues for 2008-09, with the firm reporting a 5% increase taking turnover to £444m, up from £421.8m last year.

However, the firm has estimated that profits per equity partner (PEP) could be down by as much as 22%. The firm is currently finalising its PEP figure and has confirmed that it will have fallen by 12%-22% from last year's figure of £1.02m.