Simmons & Simmons has elected City litigator Colin Passmore as senior partner after beating outgoing managing partner Mark Dawkins to the position in the last round of voting.

Passmore (pictured), who heads the firm's litigation group, will take up the post on 1 August from incumbent David Dickinson, who is retiring after 23 years with the firm.

The first round, which took place earlier this month, saw four of a total six candidates knocked out, but no clear winner. 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.

Passmore is understood to be among a group of Simmons partners who believe the firm should actively seek out a US merger partner, an issue which is understood to have been a key differentiating point among the candidates.

He joined Simmons & Simmons in 1986, making partner in 1990 and a solicitor advocate in 1999. His key clients include Barclays, for which he manages Simmons' relationship.

Passmore was based in the firm's Hong Kong office from 1986 to 1991, and in Abu Dhabi in the early 1990s. He also served on the firm's strategy and policy committee in the late 1990s and was a member of the firm's board for five years.

He commented: "I am looking forward to driving the firm forward, building on its successes and reinforcing our reputation for first class client service. In doing this, I look forward to working closely with Jeremy Hoyland and the board."

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank David Dickinson for the significant contribution he has made to Simmons over the past 23 years. David has been an integral part of the firm during this time and held a number of senior roles, including two terms as managing partner and one of senior partner."

The outcome will be viewed as a surprise by many after a number of partners identified Dawkins as the favourite for the role. However, with former finance head Jeremy Hoyland set to take over as managing partner, some had criticised the notion of having two financial institutions specialists at the helm of the firm.