Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer senior partner candidate Barry O’Brien has dramatically pulled out of the firm’s leadership race, as the Law Society’s investigation into the Marks & Spencer (M&S) debacle continues.

The senior corporate lawyer is no longer standing in the election, for which voting began last night (12 December), as the conflict investigation into the firm’s conduct in acting for Philip Green on a £9bn bid for M&S last year is still hanging over O’Brien.