A vote earlier today confirmed that Mr Jacobs will replace incumbent senior partner Robert Elliot, who is stepping down from the helm in October after holding the position since 2011. The M&A lawyer was elected to the top post after triumphing over fellow candidates Jean-Pierre Blumberg, global M&A co-head, and Aedemar Comiskey, the London corporate partner who would have, if elected, become the firm’s first ever female senior partner. Mr Jacobs will now serve for a five-year term commencing in October, while reports in Legal Business suggest that Mr Elliot may stay on with Linklaters in a consultancy capacity after stepping down.

‘Big man, big job’

Despite a late challenge from Ms Comiskey, Mr Jacobs was widely considered to be the frontrunner for Linklaters’ top job. As the face the firm’s M&A practice, Mr Jacobs has nurtured some of the firm’s most important client relationships and advised on some of its highest-profile deals, including the $12bn float of resource giant Glencore in 2011 and, more recently, client SABMiller’s colossal $72bn merger with beverage rival AB InBev. ‘He’s a big man for a big job,’ commented one former Linklaters partner. ‘Aedemar made things more difficult for him than expected but Charlie has ideas about where he wants to take the firm and that will be important.’

Sources: The Lawyer; Legal Business