Three O'Melveny & Myers partners are set to compete to succeed Arthur Culvahouse at the helm of the firm ahead of the end of his four-year term as chairman next year, reports The Am Law Daily.

The US firm's policy committee has whittled down the field of partners being considered to succeed Culvahouse in the firm's top leadership post, and expects to have the ultimate choice put to a partnership vote by summer's end.

The three partners under consideration are: Bradley Butwin, the New York-based chair of the firm's litigation department; Washington DC-based partner Thomas McCoy, who recently rejoined the firm after retiring last year as executive vice president for legal, corporate, and public affairs at Advanced Micro Devices; and Randall Oppenheimer, a Los Angeles-based partner who heads the litigation practice in the firm's Century City office.

"We have a number of excellent lawyers who could have been considered but there was a strong consensus around these three lawyers," said Walter Dellinger, a Washington DC-based partner in the firm's appellate practice. "The feelings around the firm are that we would be very fortunate to have any of these three partners as chair."

The firm's succession planning comes amid a wave of key partner defections to have hit the firm of late, with around two dozen partners exiting since the start of the year.

In May, nine New York-based partners left O'Melveny's corporate and transactions practice, with six, including Gregory Ezring, co-chair of the firm's corporate finance and capital markets practice, joining Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison. The other two partners joined Weil Gotshal & Manges's private equity group.

Meanwhile, less than two weeks ago it was announced that three Washington DC-based O'Melveny lawyers, including Barbara Stettner, a partner in the firm's financial services practice, were leaving to open up a Washington DC office for magic circle firm Allen & Overy.

As a result of the departures of practice group leaders, the firm last month announced the promotion of four partners to leadership roles.

The upheaval in the partnership ranks follows a year in which the firm saw gross revenue fall 5%, to $782m (£495m), although average profits per partner increased 4.8% to $1.53m (£967m), largely as a result of the firm's equity partnership contracting by 7%.