CMS is an international

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

that offers legal and tax advisory services. It provides companies and organisations with advice on a full range of legal issues. CMS consists of 18 independent law firms with about 80 offices worldwide.

History

In 1999, six European law firms with 1,400 lawyers and roughly DM 500 million in joint revenues came together to form CMS. Under the CMS brand, which initially drew criticism, a "partnership of partnerships" emerged. The member law firms retained their established names. A central service unit was created to provide administrative and IT services for the members. Initially, CMS included law firms from Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and the United Kingdom among others. Over the course of the 2000s, additional law firms joined from France, Italy, Monaco, Switzerland and Spain, along with other countries. In 2008, the law firm opened its first joint office in Russia. With the

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

of CMS Cameron McKenna with Nabarro and Olswang in 2016, the law firm expanded once again. This resulted in CMS generating a total revenue of roughly one billion EUR for the first time. Today, there are also CMS offices in Latin America and Africa.

Russia

Carter-Ruck was involved in legal action against ''Financial Times'' journalist Catherine Belton and her publisher HarperCollins over her book '' Putin’s People''. In April 2022, CMS law firm was named alongside Harbour Litigation Funding by

Kevin Hollinrake Kevin Paul Hollinrake (born 28 September 1963) is a British Conservative politician and businessman. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Thirsk and Malton since May 2015 and has been serving as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State ...

MP, in a letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer

Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (; born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party since October 2022. He previously held two Cabinet of ...

MP, as two professional services firms acting for the benefit of Russian state entities during the invasion of Ukraine. The letter highlighted that both Harbour and CMS are working on behalf of the Russian state-owned DIA to bypass sanction regimes and obtain funds and assets from abroad in order to fund the war in Ukraine. CMS was named by U.S. congressman Steve Cohen as doing "unscrupulous" work for Russia that undermined democratic values and strengthened the Vladimir Putin regime in Russia. CMS rejected allegations of impropriety and said the firm had not accepted new instructions from individuals associated with the Putin regime.

Structure

CMS coordinates the activities of its members through CMS Legal Services EEIG, a european economic interest grouping. In its early phase, it handled administrative tasks, gradually taking on additional duties, e.g. in marketing. CMS Legal Services does not act on behalf of clients. As a not for profit entity, it is financed by means of revenue contributions from the participating law firms, which remain legally independent. The CMS

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

functions as the highest decision-making body of CMS. It convenes at least twice a year, taking decisions on budgets and the acceptance of new members. Moreover, there is an Executive Committee, which handles strategic issues such as the appointment and governance of the executive team. Each participating law firm appoints representatives to the Committee. The daily running of CMS is in the hands of a three-person executive team. It consists of Pierre-Sébastien Thill (

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

), Duncan Weston (Executive Partner) and Isabel Scholes ( Executive Director).

Locations

Currently, CMS has 18 member firms with main headquarters in twelve European, four South American and two African countries. In addition to legal services provided in their home countries, the member law firms are active in other countries via branches, subsidiaries and associated law firms, along with offices and representative offices in other countries. ; Members * CMS Albiñana & Suárez de Lezo, Spain * CMS Adonnino Ascoli & Cavasola Scamoni, Italy * CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang, United Kingdom * CMS Carey & Allende, Chile * CMS Daly Inamdar, Kenya * CMS DeBacker, Belgium * CMS Derks Star Busmann, Netherlands * CMS Francis Lefebvre, France * CMS Grau, Peru * CMS Hasche Sigle, Germany * CMS Kluge, Norway * CMS Pasquier Ciulla Marquet & Pastor, Monaco * CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz, Austria * CMS RM Partners, South Africa * CMS Rodríguez-Azuero,

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

* CMS Rui Pena & Arnaut, Portugal * CMS von Erlach Partners,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

* CMS Woodhouse Lorente Ludlow, Mexico

Services

CMS pursues a full-service strategy and offers companies of various sizes worldwide business-focused advice in law and tax matters. The key specialist areas include corporate law, capital markets law, tax law, energy law, procurement law,

competition law Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

and

labour law Labour laws (also known as labor laws or employment laws) are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, ...

References

External links

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Firms of the Year 2019
{{Law firms of the United Kingdom Law firms established in 1999 Law firms of Germany Intellectual property law firms Patent law firms