Richard Foley will take the reins as senior partner of Pinsent Masons in October following a contested election against incumbent Chris Mullen.

Foley, who is currently head of the firm's construction advisory and disputes group, will begin his four-year term in October.

He previously spent seven years as head of Pinsent's Asia practice in Hong Kong, before launching the firm's energy sector practice in 2008 and then leading its project practice.

Foley will take over Mullen (pictured), who has held the post since 2005.

The election, which was announced earlier this month, is the first to be contested since the election of managing partner David Ryan in 1998.

A vote was originally due to take place in 2012, but was delayed following Pinsent's successful merger with Scottish firm McGrigors that year. The election in 2008, in which Mullen was reappointed for a second term, was uncontested.

A further vote for the managing partner spot held by 16-year incumbent Ryan is due to follow later this year.

Foley said: "The election process has been very positive for our firm with partners enthusiastically participating in the discussions around our aspirations, challenges and plans for the future.

"The process also gave me the opportunity to spend significant time with partners across all of our offices and I have very much benefited from that. Now it is concluded I feel privileged to be given the opportunity to lead the firm over the next four years."

All equity partners, including fixed share partners, were eligible to vote, but the election process was undertaken by an independent organisation and the relative split of votes has not been shared with the firm or its management.