Norton Rose has appointed Australia chair Adrian Ahern as the new global chairman of the Norton Rose Group, as preparations for its June merger with Texas firm Fulbright & Jaworski gather pace.

Ahern will succeed Norman Steinberg as head of the firm's global supervisory board, which currently includes 14 members across the group, in addition to Steinberg. Ahern will also take up a non-exec position on the global executive committee. 

He will take up his one-year term as chairman – a role that rotates between the different parts of the Norton Rose business annually – on 1 May and will work closely with the chairs of all regions of the firm, including Steinberg, who will continue to serve as Norton Rose Canada chairman and sit on the board. 

Global chief executive Peter Martyr commented: "The rotation of the global chairman role reflects the global nature of our business. We all benefit from a global group of chairs who are working together and sharing knowledge and expertise."

When the merger goes live in June, Martyr will continue as chief exec of the combined firm, with Fulbright chair-elect Ken Stewart becoming US managing partner. Stewart, who replaces Steven Pfeiffer as head of the firm's US operations, will also join the executive committee, which has 13 members. 

Once the merger goes live, Norton Rose Fulbright's management team will look at how costs can be cut, with issues such as outsourcing and whether legal work can be carried out more cheaply in overseas offices likely to be under consideration.

Fulbright this week estimated 2012 revenues at $585.7m (£376.2m) – a dip of around 2% on the 2011 total of $597.5m (£383.8m).