CMS is particularly adept at large and complex IT projects, frequently acting for leading financial institutions, public sector and energy sector clients. Alan Nelson leads the practice with longstanding experience in a wide array of outsourcing deals, commercial contracts and procurement. Duncan Turner focuses on non-contentious technology and data matters, advising clients on issues relating to the adoption of AI. Martin Beveridge assists with outsourcing arrangements, telecoms infrastructure and critical contracts, while Chris Bowie covers cloud services and outsourcing agreements.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • Neil Falconer and Duncan Taylor provide pragmatic advice with a lot of market knowledge, which is very helpful.
  • Alan Nelson is recognized for his exceptional commerciality, being able to cut through complex negotiations and explain to stakeholders the real-world impact of technical IT legal clauses. Rachel Macrae impressed us with her ability to recall specific provisions within an exceptionally large contract, assisting me in the legal team and key stakeholders to understand the impact any decision would have on the wider contract and risk profile.
  • The CMS Scotland TMT team excels in client care, being available on very short notice and supporting us in managing internal stakeholders and difficult negotiations.
  • Extremely experienced in both private and public sector contracts and work very well together as a team at all levels and are extremely commercial.
  • Whilst we primarily work with CMS' Commercial Team, where their professionalism, knowledge, support, and advice have been invaluable, our engagements often necessitate input from other legal disciplines where the CMS Team has (or can arrange access to) expert knowledge and advice on all areas of law. There is an impressive depth of specialist resources to immediately call upon where required, whose approach to understanding the situation and thereafter providing options to address the same has been fundamental to our success in recent challenges.

Key clients

  • NHS National Services Scotland
  • Isio Group Limited
  • Pinewood Technologies Group PLC
  • Glasgow City Council
  • HFD Datavita
  • Railpen
  • SSE PLC
  • Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Limited

Work highlights

Advised National Services Scotland on the Future of SWAN contracts.
Advised Pinewood on a number of global and domestic licensing deals.
Advised Glasgow City Council on the procurement of a new cloud‑hosted back‑office enterprise resource planning software solution to replace the council’s legacy platform ahead of end‑of‑support in 2027.

Lawyers

Hall of Fame

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Leading partners

The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.

Leading associates

Leading associates with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.

Practice head

Alan Nelson

Other key lawyers

Duncan Turner; Martin Beveridge; Chris Bowie