Squire Patton Boggs has elected Europe, Middle East and Africa corporate chair Jane Haxby to succeed long-serving litigator Peter Crossley as the firm's European managing partner.

She has been appointed to serve a three-year term, beginning on 1 January next year, and will also join the firm's global board. At the same time, Squires has appointed sports and entertainment specialist Fred Nance as global managing partner, replacing corporate partner Steve Mahon.

Haxby began her career at legacy Hammonds in 1993, making partner in 2001. Her work as a corporate finance lawyer has included lead roles on major deals such as Illinois Tool Works' £1bn acquisition of kitchen equipment manufacturer Enodis in 2008.

She is also the former managing partner of the firm's Manchester office, which she led from 2010 until 2013 when she was succeeded by health and safety partner Rob Elvin.

Haxby said: "Having worked with many colleagues across the globe during my career with the firm, it is clear that we are well positioned to serve the evolving needs of our clients."

Crossley, who will remain at the firm as a partner, served two terms as managing partner of legacy UK firm Hammonds before its 2011 merger with US firm Squire Sanders & Dempsey. In 2013, he was re-elected as European managing partner and was instrumental in the deal that saw the firm merge with Patton Boggs a year later.

Prior to the 2011 merger with Squire Sanders & Dempsey, Hammonds was one of the UK's 25 largest law firms, with revenues of £118m. The post-merger firm was known as Squire Sanders Hammonds in the UK, until the Hammonds name disappeared in a global rebrand as Squire Sanders in January 2012.

Squire Patton Boggs took in revenues of $929m for the 2015 financial year, placing it 30th in the Am Law 100 rankings.

New global managing partner Nance – the first African-American partner to sit on the firm's 12-person global board and six-person executive group – heads the firm's US sports and entertainment practice, with a big-name client roster including basketball star LeBron James and comedian Dave Chappelle.

He will lead the firm's continued integration efforts following the 2014 merger of Squire Sanders and Patton Boggs. The combination produced a network of lawyers in 21 countries, and the transition has encountered a few bumps, including partner departures from the Patton Boggs side. Recently, the firm brought in former US Speaker of the House John Boehner as a strategic adviser to clients.