Penelope Warne (pictured) will remain at the helm of CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang until May 2024 after the partnership confirmed her as senior partner for a second term.
A spokesperson for the firm said the vote by the partnership closed today (24 January) but declined to comment on whether the election was contested.
The energy lawyer became CMS’ first woman chair and senior partner in 2013 and oversaw the firm’s three-way tie-up with Nabarro and Olswang. The largest ever merger in the UK legal market brought the firm’s UK lawyer headcount to nearly 2,000 and made CMS’ international network one of the top 20 firms by revenue globally.
Warne joined the firm in 1993 and set up the firm’s offices in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Rio de Janeiro and Dubai. She took over from corporate finance partner Dick Tyler shortly after the merger with Scottish firm Dundas & Wilson.
She has implemented a number of initiatives to improve female representation within the firm’s partnership and management, with women now making up 40% of the firm’s board and 30% of its UK partnership.
The firm’s most recent set of financials showed UK revenue up 5% to £545.8m in 2018/19, while the broader CMS international group – spanning more than 70 offices in 40 countries combined together under a European Economic Interest Grouping – reported turnover growth of 5% to €1.36bn in the calendar year 2018. Profit per equity partner at the firm is £574,000.