Hogan Lovells has extended the terms of CEO Steve Immelt and deputy CEO David Hudd, the firm announced today (7 September).

Immelt and Hudd will each serve an additional two years, with their terms now ending on 30 June 2020. The pair were elected in July 2014.

Hogan Lovells chair Nicholas Cheffings said the firm's partners felt "strength and consistency of leadership" was important for its strategy of delivering a "world-class" business. "This was not a difficult decision," he added.

Immelt said that while much of his managerial focus has so far been on maximising the combination between legacy Hogan & Hartson and the UK's Lovells in 2010, there would now be a "shift of emphasis" toward ensuring that the firm is "fit for the future… in a challenging and competitive market".

In a feature article published in April, The American Lawyer concluded that Hogan Lovells' formative combination has been "arguably the most successful transatlantic law firm merger of all time".

It also argued that the tie-up has on some counts underperformed and underdelivered, however, noting that the firm's financial performance has lagged behind that of its key rivals and of the wider market, and that it has been largely frustrated in its attempts to build a transactional practice that would allow it to win roles on the highest-value deals.

Hogan Lovells earlier this week recruited former Federal Trade Commission chair Edith Ramirez as co-head of the firm's antitrust, competition and economic regulation practice.

London-based Cheffings, who was appointed as the first sole chair of the then newly merged firm in 2012, was in 2015 appointed to serve a second three-year term, which will come to an end next May. In London, the firm is led by regional managing partner Susan Bright, who has held the role since 2013.