Latham & Watkins has announced that London-based capital markets partner Richard Trobman has won a partnership election to be the global legal giant's next chair and managing partner.

The promotion is effective immediately, but it will not be much of a day-to-day change for Trobman, who has been serving as an interim co-chair since the sudden departure in March of the firm's prior chair, Bill Voge.

Trobman said in a brief interview with The American Lawyer that winning the Latham election was "humbling".

"It means so much to be trusted by your partners and to be looked at as the leader of this organisation," Trobman said. "We've accomplished so much. We're unique. We're special. And to have my partners put that kind of trust in me, I can't tell you how much it means."

Trobman, 52, is a rainmaking finance partner who lists among his clients investment banks such as JPMorgan, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. He has represented private equity firms including Advent International, BC Partners, Cinven, EQT, Nordic Capital, PAI Partners and The Carlyle Group.

Latham had been scheduled to hold an election for chair in 2020 until Voge's jarring resignation earlier this year. Voge, who had led the firm since 2015, resigned following what the firm characterised as communications "of a sexual nature" with a woman who had no connection to Latham and whom Voge never met in person. Voge at the time said he made a "personal mistake".

The firm thanked Voge for his "many contributions" to Latham in the release announcing Trobman's election.

Trobman joined Latham in Los Angeles in 1991 after graduating from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. He transferred to New York two years later. He has been based in the firm's London office since 2000, the same year he was elected to Latham's partnership.

He is no stranger to leadership roles at the firm, having served as local department chair for the corporate department in the London office for six years. Trobman also served on several committees, such as the women enriching business committee; associates committee; and ethics committee. Since Voge's departure, Trobman had been operating as co-chair alongside Silicon Valley-based partner Ora Fisher.

As for his plans as managing partner, Trobman mentioned that Latham would focus on "continuing to innovate and to focus on client service". He said the firm has seen "incredible" demand in 2018.

"We're going to focus on our long-term strategy and unlocking the opportunities that are there for us," Trobman said. "What is really special about this place is our firm and our partners really do have a global outlook and have embraced and believe in our global strategy."

Eight partners' names were circulated in April as being finallists for the chair position. Latham declined to comment on the process for the election or the names of the other candidates. But the firm assembled a succession committee, led by Chicago-based partner Sean Berkowitz, who is also co-chair of Latham's commercial litigation practice.

Trobman will now lead a firm that has been among the most successful in building a global practice focused on high-rate, high-priority areas of law. Since 2010, the firm's gross revenue has grown 68%, hitting $3.06bn in 2017. Latham was ranked number one on the Am Law 100 from 2015 to 2017, before bringing in the second-most revenue in the survey last year behind only Kirkland & Ellis. Latham's headcount has risen nearly 30% since 2010 to about 2,500 lawyers, yet the firm still boasts profits per equity partner of roughly $3.25m.

If practice group loyalty is any indication, Trobman would have been backed by the largest contingent at the firm in its banking and finance practice. According to ALM Intelligence, the finance group has more than 1,200 lawyers. Litigation is the next largest practice group at Latham with about 800 lawyers. That is followed closely by M&A (745 lawyers) and venture capital and private equity (672 lawyers).

Voge was scheduled to serve at least one five-year term, which would have ended in 2020. The global project finance expert, who is now listed as a retired partner on Latham's website, became the firm's leader in 2015 after an election to replace Robert Dell, who oversaw much of Latham's worldwide growth during a 20-year tenure as chairman. Dell was elected to four five-year terms, and the firm grew from about 600 lawyers to about 2,200 under his direction.

Trobman said the election process was "intense" but was a good opportunity to learn about the firm and communicate his vision for the future. Trobman said he learned the news on Friday afternoon, London time, while in a taxi with his wife, returning from a dinner with friends.

"It's taken a lot of time; time well spent," Trobman said. "But it was great at the end to be able to sit down and hear the news with my wife, who has been one of my greatest supporters and champions and was strongly behind me running for this spot."