The Legal 500

CMS Cameron McKenna LLP

MITRE HOUSE, 160 ALDERSGATE STREET, LONDON, EC1A 4DD, ENGLAND
Tel:
Work 020 7367 3000
Fax:
Fax 020 7367 2000
DX:
135316 BARBICAN 2
Web:
www.cms-cmck.com
Email:

CMS Cameron McKenna places great emphasis on client service, with clients benefiting from an extensive range of tailored services, delivered through offices in the UK, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and beyond.

The firm: CMS Cameron McKenna aims to be recognised as the best European provider of legal and tax services. Clients say that what makes CMS special is a combination of three things: strong, trusted client relationships; high-quality advice; and industry specialisation. Member firms combine deep local knowledge and the most extensive European presence with cross-border consistency and co-ordination. CMS has a common culture and a shared heritage that makes it distinctively European. CMS operates in 29 jurisdictions, with 54 offices in western and central Europe and beyond. CMS was established in 1999 and today comprises nine member firms, employing over 2,800 lawyers. CMS is headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. Addresses and full contact details for each office can be found online at www.cmslegal.com. CMS member firms are: CMS Adonnino Ascoli & Cavasola Scamoni (Italy); CMS Albiñana & Suárez de Lezo SLP (Spain); CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre (France); CMS Cameron McKenna LLP (UK); CMS DeBacker (Belgium); CMS Derks Star Busmann (Netherlands); CMS von Erlach Henrici Ltd (Switzerland); CMS Hasche Sigle (Germany); and CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz Rechtsanwälte GmbH (Austria).

Types of work undertaken: CMS firms place great emphasis on three important areas of client service.

Extensive client feedback: clients want advice to be delivered clearly and concisely, and in a manner that matches their needs. The firm has an extremely comprehensive feedback programme to ensure that clients are being kept happy.

Sector group focus: CMS Cameron McKenna’s sector approach provides clients with an industry-specific service and deep sector expertise. Working alongside its traditional practice group structure, sector groups enable the firm to build teams taking an industry, rather than a purely legal, perspective – something the firm’s clients value highly. CMS Cameron McKenna believes it enables the firm to offer more proactive and tailored advice, and is a benefit that few law firms offer.

Staying ahead of the game: CMS Cameron McKenna’s expertise has been recognised through a number of recent awards. These include: Yurydicheskaya Praktyka: Legal Awards 2011 ‘Best International Law Firm in Ukraine’ (2011); Legal Business Awards ‘Regulatory Team of the Year’ (2011); MPF European Practice Management Awards ‘Client Service Award’ (2010); LawCareers.net Training and Recruitment Awards ‘Best Recruiter’ (2010); Yurydicheskaya Praktyka: Legal Awards 2011 ‘Best International Law Firm in Ukraine’ (2010); unquote” CEE Private Equity Awards ‘CEE Law Firm of the Year’ (2010); CEE Private Equity Awards 2010 ‘CEE Law Firm of the Year’; PLC Which Lawyer ‘CEE Law Firm of the Year’ (2010); The Lawyer HR Awards ‘Most Innovative Recruitment Initiative’ (2010); Legal Business Awards ‘TMT Team of the Year’ (2010).

The firm has a strong sector focus, operating in the following sector groups: construction and development, consumer products, energy and utilities, financial institutions and services (FIS), hotel and leisure, infrastructure and project finance, life sciences, and technology, media and telecoms.

CMS offices and associated offices: Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, London, Madrid, Paris, Rome, Vienna, Zurich, Aberdeen, Algiers, Antwerp, Beijing, Belgrade, Bratislava, Bristol, Bucharest, Budapest, Buenos Aires, Casablanca, Cologne, Dresden, Duesseldorf, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Kyiv, Leipzig, Ljubljana, Luxembourg, Lyon, Marbella, Milan, Montevideo, Moscow, Munich, Prague, Rio de Janeiro, Sarajevo, Seville, Shanghai, Sofia, Strasbourg, Stuttgart, Tirana, Utrecht, Warsaw and Zagreb.

Number of UK partners 144
Number of other UK fee-earners 522

Above material supplied by CMS Cameron McKenna LLP.

Legal Developments by:
CMS Cameron McKenna LLP

  • Access to justice: protective costs orders in planning challenges

    Third parties and competing developers have no rights of appeal to the Secretary of State against planning decisions. Disappointed applicants can appeal to the Secretary of State and can have the merits of the application reconsidered. The only remedy available to a disappointed third party is a challenge by way of judicial review in the High Court on a point of law. The sense of frustration and disempowerment this creates has not been helped by the increasing complexity of the planning process and the use of consultation to legitimise decisions that many perceive may already have been taken.
    - CMS Group

Legal Developments in the UK

Legal Developments and updates from the leading lawyers in each jurisdiction. To contribute, send an email request to
  • HOUSING

    In Nzinga Maswaku v Westminster City Council [2012] EWCA Civ 669 the Court of Appeal clarified that in offering a homeless person with alternative temporary accommodation the local authority is obliged to point that if the offer is refused it has discharged its Part VII duties under the Housing Act 1996.
    - 11KBW
  • COUNCIL TAX

    In Harrow LBC v Ayiku [2012] EWHC 1200 (Admin) Sales J held that the word “or” in the Council Tax (Exempt Dwellings) Order 1992, art 3 Class N, had a disjunctive meaning, therefore it was sufficient for the non-British spouse of a foreign student to satisfy one or other of the two conditions, namely being prevented from taking paid employment or being prevented from claiming benefits, in order to qualify as a “relevant person” who was exempted from liability to pay council tax.
    - 11KBW
  • QUEEN’S SPEECH

    Bills already introduced pursuant to the Queen’s Speech on 9 May 2012 include Local Government Finance Bill and Electoral Registration and Administration Bill, both accompanied by Explanatory Notes, which in each case address ECHR compatibility.
    - 11KBW
  • Standards

    In R (Calver) v Adjudication Panel for Wales [2012] EWHC 1172 (Admin) Mr Calver was a member of Manorbier Community Council who successfully challenged the decision of the Panel to dismiss his appeal against a decision by Prembrokeshire County Council Standards Committee censuring him for a number of comments or blogs posted by him on a website he owned and controlled.
    - 11KBW
  • A justified retrospective

    Clive Sheldon - QC debates the pros & cons of retrospective tax legislation
    - 11KBW
  • Public Sector Equality Duty (“PSED”)

    In R (Greenwich Community Law Centre) v Greenwich LBC [2012] EWCA Civ 496 the Court of Appeal held that the Council had had “due regard to the PSED when making changes to its funding of community legal advice services”. At para 30 Elias LJ said:
    - 11KBW
  • Public Sector Equality Duty

    Surrey County Council conducted a review of its Library Service. This culminated in a Report to the Council’s Cabinet. The Recommendations in the Report included that there should be consultation about a community-partnership approach at selected Libraries.
    - 11KBW
  • Judicial Review

    The Judgment of Lindblom J in The Manydown Co Ltd v Basingstoke and Deane BC [2012] EWHC 977 (Admin) repays attention. The Claimant sought to challenge by judicial review 2 decisions of the Council: (1) the Council’s refusal to reconsider its position on the development of a site that it owns (and is the subject matter of a Joint Development Partnership Agreement with the Claimant); and (2) a decision of the Council’s Cabinet approving a selection of sites for development which did not include this site.
    - 11KBW
  • The Health and Social Care Act 2012: impact on adult social services

    After its torrid passage through Parliament, the Health and Social Care Bill received Royal Assent on 27 March 2012. The Act deals principally with healthcare reform, but it also contains some amendments to the legislative framework for social care. It will come into force on a day yet to be appointed by the Secretary of State.
    - 11KBW
  • Immigration update May 2012

    In this issue: