Latham & Watkins' has delayed an expected London managing partner vote by at least a year.

Corporate partner Nick Cline (pictured) was selected for the role for a four-year term in April 2010, replacing technology and outsourcing partner Andrew Moyle on his appointment to the Latham's firm-wide executive committee.

An election process was initially slated for this spring, though this has now been pushed back indefinitely.

"At this stage, it's not clear anyone else in London would really want to step into the role," commented one source close to the firm. "Nick is doing a very good job balancing management and transactional work."

Cline has advised a number of Latham's major clients, including the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Yahoo!, Aviva, Deutsche Bank, Thomas Cook, Lovefilm and RWE.

He was part of a Latham team that advised QIA subsidiary Qatar Holdings on a £3.8bn cash injection into the then stricken Barclays bank in October 2008.

Under his tenure, the London office has grown to more than 250 fee earners, including 60 partners.

Five of those partners have joined the firm since May last year, including Clifford Chance's global head of private equity David Walker and Herbert Smith Freehill's co-chair of corporate fraud Simon Bushell.

Later this year, Latham is set to elect a replacement for global chair and managing partner Robert Dell, who will retire in December after two decades heading the firm.

A succession committee headed by New York litigation partner Miles Ruthberg has been appointed to oversee the selection of Dell's replacement, with an election currently slated for July 2014.

The new chair is expected to work with Dell from July 2014 for the remainder of the year, before commencing their term on 1 January 2015.