CMS momentum continues one year from Scottish combination

CMS celebrates one year since its successful combination with Scotland’s market leader Dundas & Wilson which took effect on 1 May 2014. CMS now has 267 partners and 1046 fee earners in the UK, and over 800 partners worldwide, offering strength in Scotland, scale and reputation in London and international reach across its 59 offices worldwide.

Highlights over the year include:

• Significant new panel appointments, including SSE’s first legal panel in June 2014, Clydesdale Bank in August and Interserve’s first Scottish panel in November
• 14 partner appointments. These include Construction partners Shona Frame and Ian McCann, International Arbitration partner Pieter Bekker and Planning partner Robin Hutchinson;
• Expanding the Legal Services Unit, this has more than doubled in size in the last year and now serves over 400 clients;
• Topping Business Insider’s Scotland 2014 listings, with 98 transactions between January and December 2014 worth an aggregate total of £7.72bn.

Among these successes, the firm has also been leading on some of Scotland’s largest real estate and infrastructure deals including advising Transport Scotland on financial close of the £550m Aberdeen Bypass, acting on the £224.1m sale of The Centre for Land Securities and exchanging sale of 50% of Buchanan Galleries, Glasgow for £137.5m.

Stephen Millar, CMS’ Executive Partner for Scotland comments: “CMS has been committed to Scotland since Senior Partner Penelope Warne established our office in Aberdeen over 20 years ago.”

He continues: “Energy and financial services are critical to the UK and international economy. We have positioned ourselves to be the top provider in both these areas. Furthermore the combination has allowed us to offer a flexible operating model. Through combining quality City and Scottish practices together with a near-sourcing offering, we can bring savings and efficiencies to clients without compromising the quality of services delivered.”

Caryn Penley, Co-Executive Partner for Scotland adds: “Our sector strength and critical mass in the UK and globally puts us in a unique position, adding value for Scottish based clients, both for those domestically based as well as those that look to grow and export their services internationally.”