Latham & Watkins' search for a new head of the firm will continue after partners failed to unanimously elect a successor to long-standing global managing partner and chairman Bob Dell, Legal Week has learned.

The election, which was held on Saturday (12 July), did not result in an outright majority for any one candidate. Los Angeles partner and vice chair of the firm's US finance practice Jeff Greenberg will now enter into a run-off vote against London and New York based project finance partner Bill Voge, with voting taking place this week.

Paul Sheridan, a Washington DC-based corporate partner who recently replaced Greenberg on the firm's executive committee, also stood for election, but did not obtain a sufficient split of the vote to make it through to the second round.

In May, Legal Week revealed Voge had emerged as the frontrunner to succeed Dell, with partners citing his profile within the firm's international and US partnership, as well as his role in developing Latham's global strategy and office launches, particularly in the Middle East and London.

Since then, the candidates have traveled extensively throughout the firm's 32-office network in an attempt to individually meet as many partners as possible.

It is understood that Voge's pitch to partners included the pledge that he would stand for one single five-year term, before passing the reins to a more junior partner.

Dell (pictured) announced his intention to retire last November, after two decades leading the firm. The firm has appointed a succession committee, led by New York litigation partner Miles Ruthberg, to lead the transition, with Dell's successor set to step in on 1 January 2015.

Since taking over as chair and managing partner of Latham in 1995, Dell has overseen an increase in annual revenue from $262m to $2.29bn (£1.38bn) and a near quadrupling of the firm's lawyer headcount to 2,100, despite not merging under his stewardship.

In four terms under Dell's leadership, profits per partner also grew from $550,000 in 1994 to $2.49m (£1.49m) in 2014.