Macfarlanes has appointed banking head Julian Howard as its new managing partner, with senior partner Charles Martin confirmed for a second term.

Howard will take over as managing partner from Simon Martin, who is returning to full-time fee earning in the City law firm's corporate practice, from 1 January.

The veteran banking lawyer has acted for a range of institutions, primarily on acquisition finance, including Royal Bank of Scotland, Allied Irish, Barclays and NAB Capital and also chairs Macfarlanes' international practice committee.

He has acted on many of Macfarlanes' largest banking mandates, including advising Pernod Ricard on a series of multibillion-pound financings.

While Howard takes the lead operational brief, Martin will focus on partner issues, strategic development and client communication. Martin's second term begins in May next year with both appointments expiring on 30 April 2014. The duo were appointed following an informal sounding of the UK top 30 firm's partnership.

Macfarlanes remains one of the most highly-regarded transactional advisers outside the City top 10. The firm in 2009-10 achieved profits per equity partner of £710,000, maintaining its position as one of the UK's most profitable firms, while turnover dipped by 2% to £92.4m.

The firm this summer underlined its M&A credentials with a role opposite Sullivan & Cromwell on US private equity group Apollo's $1.3bn (£835m) offer for Brit Insurance.

The shake-up is not expected to alter the 75-partner firm's increasingly unconventional focus on the domestic market, though Macfarlanes has in recent years made more effort to cultivate its wide network of international referral partners.

Martin told Legal Week: "Our agenda will remain focusing on the clients and making sure we're absolutely on top of what is a very fast-moving market."