Slaughter and May’s newly-elected senior partner Steve Cooke has said he will continue a focus on the firm’s “massively important” international strategy and will carry out a sizable amount of client work.

The firm announced this morning that it had elected M&A head Cooke to the position of senior partner, succeeding current incumbent Chris Saul, who will retire from the firm at the end of April. He has been elected as senior partner for a five-year term.