A popular long term board member with the social skills needed to pull together a newly-merged transcontinental firm, Ashurst’s announcement today (16 October) that outside runner, dispute resolution partner Ben Tidswell has been elected as chairman, is nonetheless a shock defeat for incumbent firm head Charlie Geffen.
After a simple ‘one partner, one vote’ election, the emergence of Ashurst Australia’s competition and consumer protection partner Peter Armitage as a contender for the top job had turned the election into a three horse race.
