Nigel Knowles looks set to secure another term at the helm of DLA Piper, with no-one putting themselves forward to replace him as joint chief executive as Legal Week went to press.

The formal nomination period for candidates to put themselves forward to stand against Knowles is due to end later this month, with Knowles currently running uncontested.

His three-year term as joint chief executive and managing partner will finish next month, with his new term, assuming he is successful, starting in January 2012.

Partners at DLA suggest it is unlikely that anyone will stand against Knowles. They argue that his position has been strengthened by the arrival earlier this month of former Linklaters managing partner Tony Angel as the new global co-chairman and senior partner of DLA Piper International, with a brief to help integrate the US and International partnerships.

One partner at the firm said: "With Nigel, Andrew Darwin [managing director, groups and services] and now Tony Angel leading the firm, we have a very strong and formidable leadership team. I can only see this being an uncontested election."

Another added: "I wouldn't just be surprised, I would be astonished if someone decided to run against Nigel. It would take a brave man to put his hand up and run against him."

Since becoming managing partner in 1996 Knowles has taken the firm from a regional UK law firm to a global player with turnover of more than £1bn. He has overseen the firm's UK and international expansion including the 2005 mergers with US firms Piper Rudnick and Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich, as well as this year's merger with Australian ally DLA Phillips Fox.