Travers Smith has appointed corporate head Chris Hale as its new senior partner, as long-serving firm leader Chris Carroll prepares to step down.

Hale (pictured), who has headed up the corporate group since 2003, joined the firm in 1983 and made partner in 1987. He will take up the senior partner post on 1 July this year.

The appointment comes after the firm kicked off the process to find Carroll's successor at a partners' meeting last October, with partner Spencer Summerfield now set to succeed Hale as head of corporate.

Carroll's current three-year term will end on 30 June 2013, allowing for a handover period in the coming months. He will continue to work for the firm in an international consultancy role.

Hale said: "As senior partner, I will continue the firm's strategy, focusing in particular on ensuring that (i) our relationship with, and service to, our clients is as good as it can be and (ii) our strengths are articulated as clearly as possible to those operating in the markets on which we concentrate. I will also continue, albeit on a slightly reduced basis, my transactional practice."

In 2011 Hale headed up a sector overhaul at the firm which saw it refocus its business around a number of key sectors in a bid to deepen relationships with existing clients and attract new work. Legal Week identified Hale as a likely successor to Carroll last October.

Major mandates Hale has recently acted on have included the acquisition of UK private equity firm Candover Partners by Arle Capital in 2010, the £975m sale of Marken to a company backed by private equity house Apax – thought to be the largest private equity deal of 2009 – and the £440m buyout of legal process outsourcing provider CPA Global in 2010.

Carroll became senior partner in July 2010 after a nine-year stint as the firm's managing partner, replacing Alasdair Douglas, now the chairman of the City of London Law Society.

The firm re-elected Andrew Lilley for a second term as managing partner last September, with Lilley taking up a reduced term of two years rather than three at the start of 2013.