Addleshaw Goddard has appointed four partners to its newly-created unitary board following a contested election.

The quartet voted onto the board are financial regulation partner Adam Bennett, business support and restructuring head John Joyce, international arbitration head Simon Kamstra and employment partner Michael Leftley.

The election took place last week, but the firm held a revote on Tuesday (21 June) after the first vote resulted in a tie between a number of candidates.

The newly-merged board also comprises senior partner Monica Burch, managing partner Paul Devitt, chief financial officer Martin Gaskin and external non-executive member Margaret Salmon.

In addition, real estate head Adrian Collins and finance and projects head Richard Papworth have also been appointed by Devitt to the new board.

The election process follows the firm's recent decision to merge its governance board and executive leadership team committee (ELT) to create a leaner leadership, governance and management structure.

The new board reduces the number of partners in management posts by eight and eliminates duplication of roles between the governance board and ELT.

Burch (pictured) commented: "Creating a single board will streamline our decision-making processes, enabling us therefore to take decisions more quickly and to be more responsive as a firm to opportunities and to market conditions. I look forward to working with the new board."

The restructuring of the firm's management board comes after Addleshaws reported a 3% decrease in turnover during the 2010-11 financial year, alongside a 16% drop in profits.

The firm is set to cut up to 40 jobs across its business services function, while it has also announced plans to launch offices in Singapore and Dubai later this year.