July 19 (Reuters) - San Francisco-based Morrison Foerster announced on Thursday that firm chairman Keith Wetmore would be stepping down after 12 years in the post and that it had elected Larren Nashelsky, the co-chair of the firm's bankruptcy and restructuring practice, to succeed him.

Nashelsky, who joined the firm in 1999, will assume the leadership role on Oct. 17.

Partners at Morrison Foerster began voting on Nashelsky's appointment late Wednesday. The election was uncontested, and the result was made known Thursday.

Wetmore, one of the few openly gay chairman in the legal industry, steered the firm through a particularly challenging period for law firms in San Francisco, when competitors such as Heller Ehrman, Thelen and Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison closed up shop.

He informed his partners he would not seek another term several months ago. The firm's leadership committees interviewed a number of candidates and nominated Nashelsky earlier this month.

Wetmore said he decided that a dozen years at the helm were enough. "It is tempting to use incumbency as leverage for retention, but that can lead to staying at the job for too long," he said. "I thought it was time for a new generation of leadership to stir things up a little bit."

Under the title of chairman emeritus, Wetmore will continue his involvement with the firm and help Nashelsky with firm business on an as-needed basis, Wetmore said.

Nashelsky, whose clients include Residential Capital, Tricom, Caribbean Petroleum Corp and Paper International, Inc, will be the first chairman at Morrison Foerster who will begin his term based in New York, according to a firm spokesman. Wetmore moved to New York from the West Coast after being elected chairman in 2000.

(Reporting By Casey Sullivan)

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