CMS (law firm)


CMS is one of the largest law firms in the world and is structured as a group of preexisting law firms. CMS Legal Services EEIG is a European economic interest grouping of law firms, which was established with the objective to create a professional multi-jurisdictional legal and tax service organisation, headquartered in Europe. CMS currently has 4,800 legal and tax advisers in more than 40 countries. The organisation's firms are branded with the preface 'CMS' as part of their respective names but remain independent businesses.
The acronym's letters derive from two of the founding firms, Cameron McKenna and Sigle. The EEIG is organised and managed centrally by an executive committee based in Frankfurt, Germany.
In 2017, CMS was ranked as the law firm with the most FTSE 100 clients, jointly with Slaughter and May.
CMS's expertise is acknowledged in different fields by international rankings. In Chambers & Partners Europe 2018, the following practices are highlighted: "Banking & Finance", "Corporate/M&A", "Dispute Resolution", "Employment", "Intellectual Property", "Life Sciences", "Private Equity", "Projects & Energy", "Real Estate", "Regulatory: Energy", "Regulatory: Life Sciences/Pharma", "Regulatory: TMT", "Restructuring/Insolvency", "Tax", "TMT: Information Technology", "TMT: Media", and "TMT: Telecommunications".

CMS History and Geographic Expansion

YearCountry
1999 and beforeAustria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, United Kingdom
2000Serbia, Switzerland
2001Algeria, China, France, Italy, Morocco
2003Croatia
2004Bulgaria
2005Spain
2006Ukraine
2007Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia
2009Brazil
2011Albania, Luxembourg
2012China, Montenegro, Portugal
2013Turkey
2014Dubai, Oman, Scotland, Switzerland
2016Hong Kong
2017Angola, Chile, Colombia, Monaco, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Singapore
2018Mexico, Republic of North Macedonia
2019Kenya, South Africa

CMS Member Firms

CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP

CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP, trading as CMS, is a multinational law firm headquartered in London, England. It has over 250 partners and 73 offices across Europe, the Middle East, South America and Asia.
CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP is a member of the CMS organisation of law firms.

History

The origins of the firm date back to 1779 and the law practice of T Hewitt.
In 1997 Cameron Markby Hewitt merged with fellow City of London law firm, McKenna & Co, to form Cameron McKenna. The firms of Cameron Markby, Hewitt Woollacott & Chown and Brafman Morris had merged in 1989 to become Cameron Markby Hewitt. Prior to that Cameron Kemm Norden of New Street, London, EC2, off Bishopsgate, merged with Markbys of London Wall, either in 1980 or 1981. After 17 years at Mitre House, near the Barbican, the firm moved into its Cannon Place headquarters in July 2015, situated above Cannon Street Station.
Henry Markby, a name partner in legacy firm Cameron Markby Hewitt, is alluded to in a number of Oscar Wilde's plays, most notably in The Importance of Being Earnest, when Lady Bracknell says that her solicitors are Markby, Markby and Markby.
Markby, who was president of the Law Society of England and Wales in 1887, had fallen out with Wilde, a former friend, for reasons unknown.
The partnership incorporated as a limited liability partnership in 2005.
In January 2006, CMS Cameron McKenna expanded its European presence through the acquisition of the Romanian law firm Hayhurst Robinson.
In December 2013 it was announced that CMS Cameron McKenna would merge with the Edinburgh-headquartered law firm Dundas & Wilson. The merger completed on 1 May 2014.
In October 2016, CMS Cameron McKenna announced that it would merge with UK law firms Nabarro and Olswang to create the world's sixth largest law firm by headcount. The merger completed in May 2017. CMS Cameron McKenna has been renamed to CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP, and will trade under the name CMS.
In 2017, CMS is ranking number 1 for M&A in Europe by deal count by Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg.

Activity

CMS provides advice across all types of commercial law; banking and finance, competition, corporate and M&A, dispute resolution, employment & pensions, environment, immigration, intellectual property, private equity, public procurement, real estate and tax.
CMS' services are concentrated in eight industry sector groups; consumer products, energy, hotels & leisure, infrastructure & project finance, insurance and funds, lifesciences, real estate & construction, and technology, media & telecommunications.
The firm specialises in the following areas:
The firm also operates along sector lines, focusing on the following industry groups:
London
CMS, London office located above Cannon Street station is its headquarters. Having moved here in 2015 the office won best fit out of a workplace for London & South East at the BCO Awards 2016.
Scotland
CMS’ second largest office, Edinburgh, has been practising law since 1759, following the combination with Dundas & Wilson in 2014. CMS’ Glasgow office was established in 1991 and has over 60 lawyers. The firm has also had a presence in Aberdeen for over 20 years.
CEE
Established in 1990, CMS has nine offices in Central and Eastern Europe.

Revenue and profitability

Revenues for the firm increased to €1.01bn in 2015, up 8.4 per cent on the prior year's €934.5m. Meanwhile, net profits had grown by 6.8 per cent according to City AM.

Notable clients and cases

Financial Institutions
Infrastructure and project finance
Energy
Lifesciences and Healthcare
Real Estate
TMT
is a German law firm and a founding member of CMS.

CMS Francis Lefebvre Avocats

CMS Francis Lefebvre Avocats is a leading French law firm with offices in Paris, Lyon, Strasbourg, Casablanca and Alger.

CMS Adonnino Ascoli & Cavasola Scamoni

CMS Adonnino Ascoli & Cavasola Scamoni is an Italian law firm, member of CMS.

CMS Albiñana & Suárez de Lezo

CMS DeBacker SCRL/CVBA

CMS Derks Star Busmann N.V.

CMS Russia

CMS in Russia operates under the CMS Russia brand through the representative office of CMS International B.V.. The office is located in Moscow International Business Center at: 10 Presnenskaya Nab., block C, Moscow.
The firm is managed by , Head of the Representative Office and Managing Partner and , Senior Partner.
CMS Russia combines 50+ Russian, English, French and German law qualified lawyers, including 18 partners and counsels.

History

The history of CMS Russia began in 1992 when CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre, one of CMS Russia’s founding firms, opened its representative office in Moscow.

Expertise

CMS Russia provides a full legal and tax service in key sectors of the economy. CMS Russia lawyers advise foreign clients on various aspects of business in Russia and also assist Russian clients in Europe and beyond.
Currently, CMS provides a full range of services in the following areas of expertise:
In addition, CMS’s lawyers focus on the following business areas:
In addition to mastering the intricacies of law, understanding local specifics and business culture in various countries is critical when implementing international projects. For this purpose, CMS Russia has developed the following initiatives:
which combine lawyers with deep local expertise and experience in the relevant regions. Furthermore, CMS operates the CEE German Desk, coordinating the activities of all German-speaking initiatives in Central and Eastern Europe.

Awards and rankings

CMS Russia has been recognised by leading international directories – Chambers & Partners, The Legal 500, Best Lawyers, Client Choice, IFLR1000, Mergermarket, World Tax, World Transfer Pricing - and national rankings such as Pravo.ru-300 and CRE 100.

CMS Rui Pena, Arnaut & Associados RL

CMS von Erlach Poncet AG

CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz Rechtsanwälte GmbH