Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer shuffled its management pack this week with new leaders appointed for three of its biggest practice groups. With the moves coming amid an ongoing top-level hiring spree in the US and ahead of a senior partner vote next year, change seems the order of the day on Fleet Street.

On Monday (13 October) the magic circle firm named David Scott as its new litigation head, replacing Chris Pugh, while Caroline Stroud will take over from Nick Squire leading the employment, pensions and benefits group. But the most significant change is the replacement of corporate chief Ed Braham with German partner Rick van Aerssen.

Observers both inside and outside Freshfields suggest that rotating Braham (pictured) out of the global management role will leave the M&A specialist free to run for senior partner when Will Lawes' term expires next year.

Freshfields' constitution bars practice heads from standing for more than two terms, equating to six years. Braham and Pugh have both been in post since 2009, rendering them ineligible to stand again, while Squire has led his group since November 2010. However, the absence of any immediate new postings – particularly for Braham – could be indicative of bigger roles ahead.

"Ed Braham is Freshfields," comments one former partner. "He really works hard to understand the brand, and he's probably the most knowledgeable person about Freshfields in the entire firm.

"Ed seems like the natural successor even though he's older. It'd be a very natural progression for him. He's a gentleman and a really thoughtful guy. He'd make a great senior partner. I hope he gets the vote."

Under Freshfields' governance structure the senior partner is responsibile for appointing the managing partner so whoever succeeds Lawes will have responsibility for this task, dictating the firm's leadership through a potentially transformational period.

At this stage Braham's name is one of the few being linked with the role by those inside the firm and former partners, while Pugh has been touted as a potential successor to David Aitman as managing partner.

"Who knows who will put their hat in the ring?" says one partner at the firm. "What will be will be. That's next year's problem. Ed is an extraordinarily capable man, but there are plenty of extraordinary people in the firm, any one of whom would be great in the role."

Another partner says that he would not expect to know about other likely candidates until nearer the time of the vote. "The moment a firm spends too much time concerning itself with its internal management structure, that's when you know there are problems," adds the partner.

Whether contested or not, Lawes is unlikely to feature as he is expected to opt out of a second term. A source within the firm says they would be "gobsmacked" if he ran, though Lawes' strength as a transactional lawyer would still make him invaluable to the firm should he decide to stay at Freshfields.

What is clear is that the new management team – along with this week's three new practice heads -will have their sights sharply focused on the US as the firm continues its push into the New York transactional space.

Last month, Freshfields made a string of heavyweight hires in New York, including Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson senior partner Valerie Ford Jacob and Shearman & Sterling partner Peter Lyons, who is now co-head of the firm's public M&A group.

According to Scott, the recent eye-catching transactional hires are in contrast to the gradual development of the dispute resolution team in the US.

"Our US dispute resolution practice has been there for more than five years now," Scott tells Legal Week. "Six years ago it was clear to us that the level of regulatory cooperation was on the increase. We were concerned that without being able to handle the US end of a significant contentious problem for our most important clients we would slowly lose out over time."

Scott adds that he hasn't targeted a particular size he'd like the US team to reach, but concedes the firm wants to make it "bigger and stronger".

He also points to a need to developing the connection between the firm's US and Asia offerings, with a mixture of internal promotions and selective lateral hires on the M&A and finance side set to complement the dispute resolution practice.