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Business Development and Sustainability categories: CMS picks up two awards at PMN Management Awards 2021

24/09/2021

Berlin – CMS Germany took two first places at the 13th PMN Management Awards. The international commercial law firm received awards in the Business Development and Sustainability categories. The Professional Management Network (PMN) is a network of international commercial law firms and audit companies. The PMN Award Gala saw recognition for the firm’s Business Model Innovation project in the Business Development category, while the CMS Foundation took top spot in the Sustainability category.

In its laudation for the Business Model Innovation project, the jury explained that more and more major law firms were seeking ways of boosting cost efficiency by combining highly specialised legal services with increasingly automated services. Not all succeed in the endeavour, the jury noted. With its Smart Solutions unit, “CMS is demonstrating its sustained commitment to achieving that goal. It sets the standard for others to follow,” commented the jury.

Explaining its choice of the CMS Foundation, the jury highlighted the impressive success of the Foundation’s work. Since being formed at the end of 2015, the Foundation has provided support totalling more than EUR 1 million. The jury added that it is not just the only foundation set up by a German law firm that operates in twelve federal states nationwide, it also boasts an outstanding range of verifiable results. “The aim of enabling access to justice for everyone [is] both ambitious and credible as part of the CSR strategy of a leading law firm,” the jury concluded.

The Business Model Innovation project was launched in 2015 as a radical step to accelerate the creation of a modern, forward-looking and digitised law firm. This culminated in the establishment of the Smart Solutions business unit in 2020. Smart Solutions integrates knowledge management, legal tech and alternative sourcing, making the unit the driving force behind a new service structure at CMS that is both innovative and client-oriented. As a result, all the advantages of a large traditional law firm have been successfully combined with the dynamism, creativity and flexibility of a legal tech start-up.

When CMS Germany established the CMS Foundation in 2015, it became the first German law firm to set up a non-profit foundation with the aim of fulfilling its social responsibility more effectively. Under the motto “Access to justice. For everyone.”, the Foundation provides a platform for part of the firm’s charitable commitment. The objective is to ensure that everyone can benefit from the rule of law, regardless of their financial means. To achieve this goal, the Foundation works with specialist non-profit organisations. This includes supporting a number of projects that contribute in various ways to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations. The Foundation’s commitment is an element of CMS’s sustainability strategy and provides a permanent, institutionalised framework for the firm’s social responsibility.

The PMN Management Awards have been used to recognise innovative projects in management and business services within commercial law firms in Germany since 2009. The awards cover seven categories, with the finalists and winners being selected on the basis of projects submitted by individual law firms. A jury consisting of five industry experts considers all the entries and chooses the winners. The aim of the awards is to support the development of management and business services within law firms and to highlight success stories.

Press Contact
presse@cms-hs.com

photo: H.-J. Herrmann

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