Slaughter and May has elected Roland Turnill as head of its M&A practice, succeeding current head Stephen Cooke who is stepping up to the managing partner post.

Both Cooke and Turnill's appointments will take effect from 1 May 2016.

Turnill trained with Slaughter and May and was made partner in 2004. His practice encompasses M&A, corporate finance and public equity offerings.

Recent major deals he has advised on include acting for Vodafone on the merger of its Dutch operations with Liberty Global and acting for Royal Dutch Shell on its £47bn merger with BG.

Outgoing senior partner Chris Saul described him as "an outstanding corporate lawyer, respected by clients and colleagues alike".

Cooke added: "Roland will make a tremendous contribution in developing our M&A practice as well as continuing to advise on some of our most important work."

Turnill was touted as one of the favourites to succeed Cooke, alongside fellow corporate partner Nilufer Von Bismark.

He said: "My focus will be to ensure that we continue to earn the trust that clients place in us and develop the exceptional talent and commitment that exists within our team."

Cooke was elected to the senior partner role in January having led the firm's M&A practice since 2001.

He will succeed Saul as senior partner when the latter retires from the firm at the end of April.