Herbert Smith Freehills senior partner Jonathan Scott is to retire from the firm in January, ahead of the scheduled end of his term in April 2015.

Legal Week understands that four partners are currently in the running for the role, with internal campaigning already underway as candidates address individual departments within the firm.

In London, corporate partner James Palmer and litigation partner Tim Parkes have put their hats in the ring, while deputy senior partner Mark Crean is also standing, representing the Australian wing of the firm. Managing partner of EMEA Allen Hanen, who is based in Moscow, is also understood to be in the running.

Scott (pictured) is set to leave Herbert Smith Freehills on 31 January 2015, after 35 years at the firm. His term as senior partner had been due to end in April. He declined to comment on the reasons for his early departure.

The election of a new senior partner, who will also sit as chair of the firm's global partnership council, is expected to be completed by the end of November.

Both Hanen and Parkes stood in the 2009 management contest which saw Scott elected into the legacy Herbert Smith senior partner role after winning more than 50% of the votes.

An HSF spokesperson said: "We can confirm that Jonathan Scott will be retiring as senior partner early next year. A procedure to appoint his successor is already in place and we hope to announce the outcome of that process shortly."

Scott joined Herbert Smith as a trainee in 1979, leaving the UK to set up the firm's Brussels office in 1989.

In April this year joint-CEOs Mark Rigotti and Sonya Leydecker replaced David Willis and Gavin Bell, who took up the joint positions following the merger of legacy firms Herbert Smith and Freehills in 2012.