Clifford Chance (CC) has elected Amsterdam managing partner Jeroen Ouwehand to replace Malcolm Sweeting as senior partner.

Ouwehand beat Paris managing partner Yves Wehrli to secure the role after he received more than 50% of the partnership votes in the third and final round of voting, which closed yesterday (19 November).

A CC London partner said: "This does show that the partners voted for someone younger and possibly more dynamic. To have two European non-London partners through to the final – there clearly was not a block vote going on."

Ouwehand, who was appointed managing partner of the Amsterdam office in 2015, joined the firm in 1992 and made partner in 2000. He has also led CC's continental Europe litigation and dispute resolution practice since 2010.

Ouwehand said: "I am honoured to have been elected as our next senior partner and thank partners for the trust they have put in me. This is a fantastic firm, with huge opportunities ahead of us. I am greatly looking forward to working alongside my fellow partnership council members, with Matthew, the partnership and all of our talented colleagues across the firm to ensure that we are constantly challenging ourselves to anticipate and respond to changing global and economic realities, to the march of technology and an increasingly complex legal landscape."

In his new role, which he will pick up from Sweeting in January, Ouwehand will work in tandem with managing partner Matthew Layton, who began a second four-year term earlier this year following an uncontested election.

Sweeting added: "Jeroen will make an excellent senior partner for the firm. During his career at Clifford Chance, he has demonstrated a deep commitment to our clients and a sharp understanding of how the world they operate in is changing, and what that means for our firm, our clients and our markets."

Five partners stood for the role, with insurance head Katherine Coates and former capital markets head David Dunnigan dropped from the race after the first round of voting.

In the second round, former London managing partner David Bickerton was eliminated despite having been an early frontrunner.

Other firms that have switched up their management this month include Travers Smith, which elected tax partner Kathleen Russ as its first ever female senior partner; and Simmons & Simmons, which reappointed managing partner Jeremy Hoyland for a third consecutive term after an uncontested vote.