Dundas & Wilson has elected Caryn Penley and Allan Wernham as its new new co-managing partners on a joint ticket.

The appointments, which were confirmed by partners at a meeting in Scotland today (20 June), come alongside the election of intellectual property partner Laurence Ward as chairman.

Ward is taking over from David Hardie, who has overseen the election process and will step down after three years of a four-year term on 31 July.

Restructuring partner Penley (pictured) and real estate partner Wernham became interim joint managers in March after Donald Shaw stood down from the role.

The confirmation of their permanent appointments will see the duo serve a four-year term from 1 August, after seeing off competition from corporate partners Colin Massie and Michael Polson, who stood as individual candidates.

Wernham said: "Caryn and I are honoured to be chosen by our partners to lead our firm and we look forward to delivering on our shared vision. We have been elected on a growth agenda and we will work with all of our colleagues to focus on our clients and ensure that our firm is best placed to meet the challenges ahead."

Ward, who beat real estate partner Iain Lindsay to the chairman role, endorsed the joint managing partners, saying: "I look forward very much to working with them both. As chairman, my first priority will be to support them in implementing and driving forward our firm's strategy for growth."

The news comes after energy and infrastructure head Keith Armstrong resigned from the firm earlier this week (18 June) after irregularities were discovered in a pitch he worked on. An internal inquiry showed Armstrong came into possession of confidential information about the client, thereby prejudicing the tender.