Addleshaw Goddard has shaken up its management team after posting an 11% fall in net profit for the last financial year.

Despite a 3% growth in turnover, net profit fell from £44.9m to £39.8m after the firm was forced to write off debts which arose when it was unable to collect the uplift on a conditional fee agreement (CFA).

A set of management changes have followed the early resignation of managing partner Paul Devitt in March. Devitt stood down as the firm separately announced details of reporting errors which resulted in misleading profit projections for partners.

John Joyce was named as Devitt's successor last month following a contested election in which he saw off a challenge from former real estate head Adrian Collins.

As one of his first significant moves since taking the top job, Joyce has appointed Collins and Michael Leftley, head of the firm's employment group, to the four-strong executive board. They will replace Richard Papworth and Malcolm Pike with immediate effect.

Susan Garrett and Jane Hollinshead have been appointed to the governance board, as the representatives for the Manchester and London offices respectively. The appointments take female membership of the 10-member board to 40%.

Two new divisional managing partners have also been appointed: Michael Barnett (litigation) and Leona Ahmed (real estate), replacing Mark Haywood and Simon Kamstra.

In a turbulent year at the firm, Addleshaws appointed 26 new partners during 2013-14, while 14 partners left the firm in the same period.