Winston & Strawn has appointed UK commercial litigation head Michael Madden as managing partner of its London arm.

The appointment is the result of rotation provisions in the top 40 US law firm's partnership agreement. Madden (pictured) takes over from Thomas Benz, who will concentrate full-time on his corporate and securities practice with the firm.

"We are extremely pleased Michael Madden has agreed to take on this new leadership role," said Thomas Fitzgerald, Winston global managing partner.

With experience across the US, continental European and Asian business centres, Madden is the firm's London office's lead partner in disputes involving corporate acquisitions and joint ventures in various industries.

He joined the firm from Ashurst last year with a remit to launch a London commercial litigation practice. Madden commented:  "It is very rare that you get the opportunity to build up something new. It's not without its challenges, we recognise that and that there is an awful lot for us to do to build up trust and confidence from past, present, and future clients."

On the office's strategy, he added: "Currently there is a lot of focus on developing the commercial litigation team, with a big push to secure finance and regulatory work.

"We also have excellent relationships across the City, and benefit from that. We are working tirelessly to raise our individual profiles and develop on relationships we've had in the past."

In addition to London, the managing partner rotation saw Winston name new office heads in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC and Paris.

The 1,000-lawyer Winston has been in expansive mode in its home market in recent years after this summer recruiting a 23-partner team from collapsing US giant Dewey & LeBoeuf, including litigation head Jeffrey Kessler. The firm in 2011 saw its revenues rise 5.2% to hit $754m (£468m).