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International Public Procurement Law Firm

The quality of public services is increasingly determined by skilled public procurement management of real estate developments, joint ventures, restructuring or sale programmes. As a contracting authority or a bidder in local, EU and international procurement, you can benefit from the CMS Public Procurement team’s (CMS Public Procurement Contact Card) extensive experience on both sides of the public procurement process.

With over 170 public procurement specialists in over 50 cities worldwide, CMS has outstanding reach and capacity. We can support your response to public tender procedures in numerous countries simultaneously. Additionally, our specialists have longstanding sector expertise across core industries including infrastructure, life sciences/healthcare, transport, technology, media & communications (TMC) and energy. We also provide support before authorities, tribunals and courts across Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. We can guide you through complex infrastructure, transport and IT projects, not only in the public sector but also for utilities such as electricity, gas and airports. We can also represent you in procurement-related disputes and litigation.

We act for many major contracting authorities and international businesses that compete for contracts and concessions. Because we understand procurement from both sides, at the highest level, we can help you appreciate the other side’s concerns, anticipate problems, mitigate risks and, ultimately, secure a better outcome. You can rely on us to provide commercially focused, practical advice, guiding you through the process, managing risks, identifying solutions and challenging and defending award procedures.

Watch our partners Graeme Young, Christian Scherer and Virginie Dor and Senior Counsel Veronika Kovacs explain what public procurement is and how CMS Public Procurement Team can help clients tackle public procurement law challenges.

Watch video on our public procurement capabilities in Lifesciences and Healthcare sector.

Our services for contracting authorities

  • Pre-procurement market engagement
  • Choice of procedure and strategic procurement planning
  • Project management
  • Drafting of tender notices and tender documents
  • Responding to bidders’ questions and complaints
  • Tender evaluation
  • Preparing and conducting bidder discussions and negotiations
  • Debriefing unsuccessful bidders
  • Contract award

Our services for bidders

  • Engaging public sector bodies
  • Developing bidding strategies for contract opportunities
  • Forming bidding consortia
  • Addressing incumbent contractor advantages and ensuring a level playing field
  • Dealing with unfavourable contract specifications
  • Support in complex procurement procedures (e.g. public-private partnerships (PPP), IT)
  • Drafting and optimising submission documents
  • Support for notification duties, as well as content and timing of procedural complaints
  • Ensuring proper debrief information is received if bid is unsuccessful

Public procurement offers excellent mechanisms and opportunities. Whether you are a contracting authority or tenderer, to get the best out of procurement, you should work with advisers who have a wealth of experience in – and understanding of – the sector and jurisdiction in which you operate. At CMS, we have a proven track record of successful procurement projects, and advise on everything from analysing procurement process structure, through the bidding strategy, up to project implementation.

Public Procurement Remedies Toolbox
CMS launches interactive online tool for public procurement remedies
17/03/2022
Global Public Procurement Brochure – 2022
With over 170 public procurement specialists worldwide, the CMS Public Procurement Group offers you outstanding reach and capacity. CMS provides public tender support in 40 jurisdictions. Our specialists...
26/08/2022
CMS Expert Guide to public procurement regulation
 July 2021Public procurement is a powerful tool for governments trying to create dynamic, innovative and sustainable markets, economies and societies. According to the European Commission, “every year, over 250,000 public authorities in the EU spend

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15/03/2024
CMS Expert Guide on Real Estate Data Centre Consenting
Welcome to CMS’ online guide tool for data centre legal consenting considerations. Please use the tool to compare legal consenting considerations for data centre development and investment across key...
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11/03/2024
Introduction of New Federal Law on Regulation of PPPs
Introduction On 1st December 2023 in the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) Federal Law No.12/2023 – On the Regulation of the Partnership Between the Public and Private Sectors (the “New PPP Law”)...
20/02/2024
Court of Appeal confirms position on damages for breach of public procurement...
The much anticipated judgment in the Braceurself appeal has been handed down by the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal (led by LJ Coulson) has reaffirmed the position established by the High Court that...
16/02/2024
"Minor revision" to be made to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court Act
BackgroundIn the years 2008 to 2013, the federal administration of justice was evaluated, leading to the identification of the following three problems: the Federal Supreme Court is overloaded, primarily...
26/01/2024
Commissioning Health Care Services in England: The new PSR regime
Following a lengthy consultation process, the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 (the “PSR”), were laid before Parliament on 19 October 2023. The PSR has been designed...
23/01/2024
Universities and the Procurement Act 2023
The legal landscape in the UK for procurement is changing this year. This quick update summarises the impact this may have on UK universities.To the extent a university considers its activities to be...
08/01/2024
CMS Appoints Seven New Practice and Sector Group Heads
CMS is pleased to announce the new heads for five of its international expertise groups. All CMS lawyers work in cross-border groups in 76 cities across 45 countries that are structured according to the industries in which our clients operate. Commercial Sam De Silva (CMS UK) will join Aukje Haan (CMS Netherlands) as co-head of the CMS Commercial Group. Based in London, Sam specialises in complex and strategic technology and outsourcing projects including all forms of cloud computing, outsourcing, system development and supply, system integration, software licensing, and support and service agreements. Sam also regularly advises on data protection, privacy, cybersecurity and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) issues. Employment Gaël Chuffart (CMS Belgium) and Daniela Krömer (CMS Austria) have been appointed as co-heads of the CMS Employment Group. Based in Brussels, Gaël advises on a wide range of employment law and social security matters. He specialises in collective labour relations, individual labour law and remuneration conditions. He also advises on international employee mobility. Daniela, based in Vienna, specialises in employment law and European law. In her work she focuses on assisting clients with issues such as the cross-border use of labour, as well as equal-treatment issues. Life Sciences & Healthcare Sarah Hanson (CMS UK) and Roland Wiring (CMS Germany) have been named as co-heads of the CMS Life Sciences & Healthcare Group. Sarah is based in London and specialises in high value, cross-border commercial, intellectual property and outsourcing transactions. She has advised on a broad range of commercial agreements related to in-licensing and out-licensing, sales and distributor arrangements, research and development, manufacturing and supply, strategic alliances and joint ventures. Based in Hamburg, Roland advises and represents pharmaceutical, medical device and biotech companies as well as enterprises in related industries. He specialises in drafting contracts for research and development, cooperations, distribution and transaction, and has expert knowledge of issues related to advertising. Private Equity Hamburg-based partner, Jacob Siebert (CMS Germany) joins Jason Zemmel (CMS UK) as co-head of the CMS Private Equity Group. Jacob advises strategic investors and private equity funds on merger and acquisition transactions, joint ventures and private equity investments, often across borders. He has significant experience in advising on buy-outs and public takeovers. Jacob also assists his clients with all aspects of corporate law. Public Procurement Brussels-based partner, Virginie Dor (CMS Belgium) has been named as the head of the CMS Public Procurement Group. In this role, Virginie specialises in legal support for large-scale public projects and advises contracting authorities and companies in all sectors on advisory and litigation matters. Additionally, she supports projects in the fields of life-sciences, construction, IT and energy.
16/11/2023
On the Pulse Webinar Series 2023 - Autumn
On the Pulse webinar series brings you updates on the latest legal and commercial developments in the life sciences & healthcare sector. The Autumn edition will see our CMS sector specialists cover: Commercial - Deal landscape and transaction trends in the Life Sciences SectorDispute Resolution - The midnight clause: why choice of law and jurisdiction clauses matterPublic Procurement - Typical pitfalls to be avoided in a procurement process for pharma and medical devices suppliesequIP - Pitfalls for life sciences start-ups to avoidEach webinar will be one hour in length with a 15-minute Q&A session. To register for the full series or just the topics of interest to you, click on the registration links below. To watch the Spring webinars in the On the Pulse series, visit here.
08/11/2023
CMS Life Sciences Vital Signs, Winter 2023
2023 has seen some significant legal developments impacting the life sciences industry, and as we look ahead to 2024, there are several important developments which we would like to keep our clients informed...
26/10/2023
CJEU ruling on exclusive licences for mineral water springs, weighing in...
On 21 September 2023, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) ruled on an issue regarding Romanian policies on the exploitation of its mineral water springs, and clarified a matter that stands at the intersection...
22/10/2023
ACC Annual Meeting 2023
Meet our experts at booth #712
13/10/2023
CMS Expert Guide: Right Bidding vs Bid Rigging
  What is bid rigging and why is it an important issue? Public procurement rules and their strict observance is of key importance to ensure good quality products and services to citizens on the best...
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