King & Wood Mallesons has named Australia chief executive partner Sue Kench as its global managing partner, effective June 1.

Kench succeeds Stuart Fuller, who stepped down at the end of 2016 and has returned to full-time practice in Australia. Her appointment comes after KWM’s European arm fell apart last year, but the collapse left the firm’s Asia-Pacific operations unaffected.

She will lead the firm’s global strategy and operations, which has Asia as its main target. “With the pre-eminence of our Asian practice, together with the rest of our network, we are focused on creating a world-class firm that clients instinctively turn to for doing business into or out of Asia, and where our consistently outstanding service delivery makes us a firm that clients love to work with,” said Kench in a statement.

Australia deputy managing partner Berkeley Cox, who is also the MP for the banking and finance, financial services and projects and real estate groups, replaces Kench as Australia chief executive partner. The firm has also appointed Rupert Li, international partner of KWM China, as global chief operating officer.