Simmons & Simmons' senior partner election has reached the final round of voting with managing partner Mark Dawkins and litigation partner Colin Passmore the two remaining candidates.

The first round, which took place earlier this month, saw four out of a total six candidates knocked out, but no clear winner. The winning candidate is required to secure 50% of the votes and will take over the senior partner role from incumbent David Dickinson from 1 August this year.

City litigation partner Philip Vaughan, corporate partner Charles Mayo and energy partner Patrick Wallace had all also put themselves forward for the position, as well as Paris office head and corporate partner Thierry Gontard.

The final round of voting will close later this week.

As previously reported by Legal Week, one major factor in the election is understood to be the candidates' views on urgency of a US merger deal, with Passmore among those in favour of actively searching out a merger partner sooner rather than later.

Dawkins – who will step down from the managing partner role next week (1 May), handing over to managing partner-elect Jeremy Hoyland – has previously taken the approach that the firm should wait until a suitable merger partner becomes available.

Finance head Hoyland was elected as Dawkins' successor in January this year and has subsequently handed over the role of head of the financial institutions sector group and the financial markets department to City capital markets head Jonathan Hammond.

Hoyland also succeeded Dawkins as financial institutions head, and some partners have expressed doubts about two financial institutions specialists at the helm of the firm, given its stated aim to strengthen in corporate.

Dawkins is a finance litigator while Hoyland is a transactional finance lawyer.