When John Cleland takes over the top job at Pinsent Masons today (1 May), he will have some big shoes to fill.

His predecessor David Ryan led the firm for 16 years through a period of "significant expansion" that included three major mergers. While Ryan fought a contested election to take that role the firm didn't have another contested election for the top spot until the one that elected Cleland last December.

To those outside the business Cleland's (pictured) background as financial institutions head may appear unsuited at first glance to a firm many perceive as construction-led, but he argues that, in fact, it makes him the perfect man for the job.

"Many of the competitive pressures that you see around the legal market – around consolidation of panels, pressure on fess and innovation in service delivery – those issues have been present in the banking sector for a long, long time, well before the downturn in 2008," he says.

"I have led a team that has been responding to that, and did so successfully."

The figures seem to back up his assertion as in the half year to October 2014, financial institutions accounted for six of Pinsent's top 10 revenue generating clients.

Cleland points out that in the firm's most recent half year results infrastructure work accounted for 20% of fee income, advanced manufacture and technology accounted for 22%, and work from financial institutions accounted for another 20%.

"I want to challenge the idea that Pinsent Masons is an infrastructure business," says Cleland. "It doesn't reflect the make-up of the business."

Also, the "client relationship programme" for the firm's most valued clients now includes the likes of HSBC and RBS, as well as the likes of UK construction giant Balfour Beatty, which Pinsents has a sole provider relationship with.

Cleland's role is more focused on internal management issues than wooing clients, however. While sources close to the firm have described him as a "nuts and bolts guy" with a keen eye for efficiencies and process management, he describes himself as someone with a broader approach. " I tend to have aims rather than targets," he says.

Cleland, who has been a partner at the firm since 1997, goes on to detail his three priorities for his first year in office.

The first is profitable growth; the need to translate geographic expansion into bottom line profit "that gives us the muscle to keep making investment."

The second is "people". "I want an approachable, ambitious culture," Cleland says. "As our business grows you can lose dynamism and the speed of decision making. I want to allow people to get on with growing the business," he says.

The third is "invention". He explains: "We need to find it easier to invent within the business. We might streamline some processes but also I want to get to a culture that challenges established norms," he says.

If you listen to commentators outside the firm, they would counsel Cleland to focus his energies on the first of those aspirations. More specifically, on getting profit per equity partner (PEP) up to a more competitive level would be a good start.

At £405,000, the firm's average PEP lags behind similar sized firms by revenue such as Eversheds (£729,000), CMS Cameron McKenna (£749,000) and Clyde & Co (£600,000).

Though Cleland says PEP "isn't the only metric out there", he admits it is often seen as the "main comparator" across firms and that the business needs to perform at "a level of profitability that allows Pinsents to attract and retain the best talent". To that end he is currently seeing through a review of partner performance.

Cleland's three core aims all indicate a desire for financial growth, efficiency and profitability. So while Cleland is keen that PEP isn't the only measure of his success it is perhaps the best proxy measure that encompasses all his aims.

While Ryan's shoes are big ones to fill there is clearly still room for growth, Cleland's challenge will be delivering it while maintaining the firm's strong position in its core markets such as construction.