CM Murray is a leading specialist partnership and employment law firm based in London. The firm is ranked by the legal directories as Tier 1 for both of its practice areas, and enjoys a market-leading reputation for advising professional and financial services firms on sensitive and complex cross-border partnership and employment law issues.
The breadth and depth of the firm’s partnership practice encompasses the 360-degree life cycle of partnership businesses, offering both contentious and non-contentious partnership law advice. The firm’s non-contentious law firm expertise includes establishing law firm LLPs/partnerships and alternative business structures, drafting and reviewing LLP/partnership agreements, advising on partnership and governance structures, partner remuneration and contribution, LLP conversions and internal restructuring, international network structures (including Swiss Verein structures), and associations and law firm M&A.
Described by Chambers and Partners as ‘the best contentious partnership lawyers in the City’, the firm has a pre-eminent reputation for acting for UK and international law firms and their partners on partner exits, team moves, restrictive covenants, discrimination and whistleblowing issues, and the handling of complex and high-risk misconduct and sexual harassment allegations against law firm partners.
The firm also advises law firms on internal employment law issues, including strategic handling of internal investigations, disciplinary and grievance matters, maternity and parental leave issues, discrimination and whistleblowing complaints, as well as employee exits.
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Clare Murray, managing partner
Clare Murray advises international professional services firms, partnerships, LLPs, partners and LLP members, particularly in the legal sector, and equity partners in hedge funds and investment management firms. She is qualified to practise in England and Wales, and in Ireland.
Murray is noted for her expertise in advising on partner conduct and performance issues, partner team moves and partner restrictive covenants, as well as partner discrimination and whistleblowing issues, and related litigation, including frequently in relation to sexual harassment allegations. Murray has advised on many sexual harassment matters relating to law firms and other professional services firms. She has acted on all sides of the allegations in those matters, having represented the law firm, the complainant, and also the alleged harasser, which gives her a particular insight into these issues, and an understanding of the regulatory and criminal aspects to be addressed. The majority of partnership and employment law matters on which Murray advises are multi-jurisdictional.
Murray gave evidence before the House of Commons Women and Equalities Select Committee in its inquiry into sexual harassment in the workplace in January 2018 and was appointed as specialist adviser to the Parliamentary Committee in that inquiry.
Murray is ranked in Chambers and Partners 2019 as a ‘Star Individual’ for partnership law (contentious); in Band 2 for partnership law (non-contentious); and Band 1 for employment law (senior executives). She is also ranked as a ‘Leading Individual’ in The Legal 500 2018 Hall of Fame for both partnership law and employment law (senior executives).
T: 020 7933 9134
E: clare.murray@cm-murray.com
Zulon Begum, partner
Zulon Begum specialises in partnership and corporate law and leads the non-contentious partnership practice at the firm. Begum’s particular focus is advising professional services firms on structuring, governance and transactional matters. She has played a key role in a number of high-profile professional services firm mergers, including law firm mergers, both national and international.
Begum also advises senior management in professional services firms on a broad range of sensitive and strategically important partnership issues, including LLP conversions, internal restructuring, LLP and partnership agreements, partner remuneration/profit sharing, international network structures (including Swiss Verein/limited company by guarantee structures), joint ventures/associations, Solicitors Regulation Authority regulatory advice, partner lateral hires and exits, team moves and restrictive covenants.
Begum is ranked in Chambers and Partners 2019 as an ‘Up and Coming Lawyer’ for partnership law (non-contentious) and in The Legal 500 2018 as a ‘Next Generation Lawyer’ for partnership law.
T: 020 7933 9123
Sarah Chilton, partner
Sarah Chilton specialises in partnership and employment law and leads the contentious partnership practice at the firm. She is qualified to practise in England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland, and has represented clients in both the English and Scottish courts.
Chilton advises professional services firms, including many law firms, on a wide range of partnership and employment issues. She has particular expertise in relation to partner conduct issues, investigations, discrimination and whistleblowing, contentious exits and partnership dissolutions, as well as partner restrictive covenant and team move issues, and associated disputes. She also advises individual partners in relation to these issues, which allows her to see the issues from all sides, giving her a broad perspective when advising her clients. She has significant experience of the financial services sector, in particular partner issues in hedge funds and private equity funds, and advises on remuneration structures and issues arising in relation to deferred remuneration, carried interest and good leaver/bad leaver provisions.
As an employment and partnership lawyer, she has particular expertise where there is a cross-over of these disciplines, which arises in relation to whistleblowing, discrimination and harassment issues as they relate to partners and LLP members.
Chilton is ranked in Chambers and Partners 2019 as an ‘Up and Coming Lawyer’ for partnership law (contentious) and in The Legal 500 2018 for both partnership law and employment law (senior executives).
T: 020 7933 9125
E: sarah.chilton@cm-murray.com
Twitter: @cmmurrayllp
Number of other UK fee-earners: Seven
Breakdown of work
Partnership: 50%
Employment: 50%
‘Truly focused partnership experts.’ – The Legal 500
‘“Top-flight” boutique CM Murray LLP houses the best contentious partnership lawyers in the City.’ – The Legal 500
