Legal Business

CMS: The Client’s View

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Legal 500 data CMS

CMS

Lawyers and
Team Quality

80.60

Quality of partners 83.07

Quality of associates 77.37

Partner availability and engagement 82.32

All scores are global and /100.

What do clients really think about the service they receive from law firms? At Legal 500, we hear from hundreds of thousands of clients every year, rating firms on key metrics such as lawyer quality and availability, billing, and levels of communication and expertise.

The answers we receive allow us to evaluate firms using a set of client service data scores, covering Lawyers and Team Quality, Value: Billing and Efficiency, and Sector and Industry Knowledge – all of which combine to produce an overall Client Service Score.

This article focuses on Lawyers and Team Quality, for which CMS scores 80.60. (The rest of this article is available to logged-in users only. If you are unable to log in above right, please click ‘Forgot your password?’ below to gain access to the full article).

Legal Business

‘A powerful thing’ – how the Mindful Business Charter is reinvigorating efforts to tackle mental health issues in law

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Mental health BristowsCMSTravers Smith

It’s not news to anyone that the legal profession is stressful. As Michael Cavers, head of debt capital markets at CMS and chair of trustees at the Mindful Business Charter (MBC) puts it: ‘Lawyers are high achievers and perfectionists. Law firms – and our clients – have high expectations of our lawyers, and they have high expectations of themselves. We acknowledge that this can be a trigger for poor mental health.’

Launched six years ago to the day on World Mental Health Day 2018, the MBC – which takes the form of a commitment that member firms sign up to – aims to tackle the mental health issues prevalent in the industry, by raising awareness, reducing stigmas and supporting those in distress, focusing on factors such as openness, respect and the need to ‘switch off’.

Since inception, it has grown from 12 to over 130 members, with signatories now including firms such as A&O Shearman, Baker McKenzie, Clifford Chance, Linklaters, Hogan Lovells, CMS, Travers Smith and Bristows.

But City law firms would not be worth their salt if they signed up without doing their due diligence. So what is it about the MBC that appeals to so many firms?

Morwenna Scholes, head of HR at Bristows, highlights the role that the MBC plays in the firm’s wellbeing efforts: ‘‘It acts as a spotlight on the issues, and anchors the many wellbeing initiatives we had in place at Bristows – I’m delighted to say that it has found its way into our daily language, with people across the firm saying: “That’s not very MBC”.

Cavers believes the independent nature of the MBC and its popularity among law firms is a key part of the appeal. ‘It’s a framework that allows us to have conversations with other law firms, our clients, and internally – conversations that we might otherwise find a little bit awkward,’ he explains.

Signatories are quick to acknowledge the role that the MBC has played in helping to transform attitudes towards mental health. As Moira Slape, chief people officer at Travers Smith and deputy chair of trustees at the MBC puts it: ‘What I’m most proud of is the fact that the vocabulary that we have in the firm around mental health is so much more developed. People in the firm who have had their mental health challenges are braver about sharing them.’

This point is echoed by Cavers: ‘During Mental Health Week, and throughout the year, people across the firm share their stories and experience of mental health quite openly in a way that I’m absolutely convinced they wouldn’t have done not that many years ago.’

A new set of best practice guidelines were released on 24 September, which Cavers believes will give firms a chance to ‘reinvigorate their efforts’ when it comes to mental health in the workplace.

CMS recently put together a new mental health senior steering committee, which has dedicated some time to reviewing the new MBC guidelines. These include: encouraging senior leaders to role-model care for their mental health; introducing regular senior board reporting on mental health; and developing effective mechanisms to understand and identify risks to particular demographic groups and practice areas.

MBC CEO Richard Martin (pictured top) – himself a former City employment lawyer at firms including Speechly Bircham and Jones Day – believes that modern life is creating a more challenging environment for junior lawyers: ‘The working world is much more intense and demanding than when I was coming through the ranks. Some people in my generation will say, “I had to go through that so why shouldn’t you?” My response is, first of all – you didn’t. And secondly, that feels like a fairly sad way to justify difficulty.’

One issue that is frequently brought up as a factor behind rising stress levels is the salary wars currently roiling the London legal market. As Martin puts it: ‘It doesn’t take a genius to recognise that if you’re paying 180 grand, you’re going to expect quite a lot in return for that.’

Travers’ Slape echoes this sentiment: ‘The salary wars do layer on an additional level of expectation for very young people in the profession. It’s a problem that is not going away.’

She adds that the stresses of the sector are leading to a change in aspirations for young people entering the legal profession: ‘Some still want to be partners, but increasingly others don’t want to deal with the added pressures and stress that comes with partnership.’

As Layla Tow, chief marketing officer and head of business development at Bristows, sums up: ‘The MBC has given some structure and commonality of goal across the sector at leadership level. It’s kept workplace wellbeing front and centre – and that’s a powerful thing.’

How firms are supporting their staff and partners

CMS

– The establishment of a mental health and wellbeing committee that provides a safe forum for members to discuss and share ideas and feedback
– The establishment of a responsible business board committee for board-level discussions about mental health and wellbeing.
– Time Out, No Questions Asked’ programme – employees can take one month of unpaid leave per year, in addition to their regular annual leave, no questions asked
– 200+ wellbeing ambassadors, located across all UK offices, trained in mental health awareness and able to offer confidential support.

Travers Smith

– A dedicated menopause policy – including a number of paid-for benefits, to provide support to people who are experiencing symptoms associated with the perimenopause and menopause.
– Free counselling services to all employees and partners, alongside a 24/7 helpline facility
– Free membership of Calm.com, facilitating access to mindfulness and meditation sessions.
– Establishing a group of volunteers across the firm who are members of the mental health first aid aware group.
– Employee-led groups, such as the Menopause Awareness Group, Bereavement Support Group and Cancer Support Network, which provide support to those dealing with the mental impacts of the menopause and loss respectively.

Bristows

– A wellbeing consultation day, with a specialist medical provider providing 1-2-1 sessions that staff can book for a physical and mental health screening
– A massage day – staff can book an ‘above clothes’ 15-minute massage slot
– Free 1-2-1 consultations with a financial wellbeing coach – covering everything from savings, mortgages, budgeting to retirement
– A team of 30 qualified mental health first aiders across the firm – just under 10% of the staff and partners.

tom.cox@legalease.co.uk

Efforts to improve mental health in the legal profession will be among the many law firm initiatives recognised at the upcoming UK ESG Awards 2025 in London next year – for more details and how to submit, click here.

Legal Business

‘Evolution not revolution’: CMS and Addleshaw Goddard post revenue growth as results season continues

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Financial results Addleshaw GoddardCMS

CMS has reported a 5% uptick in global revenue from last year’s €1.862bn to €1.957bn in its most recent set of financial results, with PEP down 4% on last year’s estimated £771,000 to £741,559.

Despite continued financial growth, this year marks a further deceleration after revenue growth slowed from 18% in 2021-22 to 6% last year.

Speaking to Legal Business, Stephen Millar, managing partner at CMS UK (pictured), commented: ‘This year’s results are solid, placing us between the higher and lower ends of market performance. Given the various headwinds and a quieter transaction market that hasn’t rebounded as quickly as anticipated, we’re pleased with our achievements.’

The firm reported that 54 internal lawyers were promoted to partnership across CMS, including 10 in the UK. Furthermore, the firm made 24 lateral hires in the UK over the past 12 months. Changes to senior leadership saw the appointment of Charles Currier as the UK’s new senior partner in March. The UK outperformed the wider firm, with turnover up 7% to £734.7m from FY 2022-23’s £686m.

Internationally, the firm nominated new heads for five of its international expertise groups. Sam De Silva of CMS UK joined Aukje Haan of CMS Netherlands as cohead of commercial; Gaël Chuffart of CMS Belgium and Daniela Krömer of CMS Austria became coheads of employment; Sarah Hanson of CMS UK and Roland Wiring of CMS Germany became co-heads of life sciences & healthcare; Jacob Siebert of CMS Germany joined Jason Zemmel of CMS as UK as cohead of private equity; and Virginie Dor of CMS Belgium was named head of public procurement.

Disputes was the firm’s strongest practice area over the last year, accounting for 29.9% of total turnover, with corporate a close second at 29.6%. Finance was in third at 17.5%, with real estate at 13.5% and ‘other significant areas’ making up the remaining 9.5%.

Last year, by comparison, corporate accounted for 29% of the firm’s revenue, with 28% from disputes.

Notable expansions in 2023 included a cooperation agreement with the Brazilian law firm Focaccia, Amaral e Lamonica Advogados, which strengthened CMS’s capabilities in Latin America. The firm also opened a new office in Riyadh and incorporated the Swedish firm Wistrand into its network.

‘While the UK remains a strong market for us, our identity as a major international firm means that developing our global strategy is central to our goals. This involves expanding into new jurisdictions as well as deepening our presence in established regions like Central Eastern Europe. Looking into this next year, we see further growth opportunities in the Middle East and Asia,’ Millar said.

Looking ahead, Millar said: ‘I think the upcoming year will be about evolution not revolution. The narrative of being a leading relationship law firm fits very well with our geographically and practice-diverse business, so I expect the year to focus on refining what we’re already doing rather than revolutionising.’

He continued: ‘In the UK, we see a strengthening economy. This presents the biggest opportunity for us. We’ve been succeeding notwithstanding a challenging market, and we see a more favorable market on the horizon.’

Addleshaw Goddard (AG) has also announced a set of promising financial results, reporting a 12% increase in revenue growth from £443m last year to £495.6m, with profit up 14% from £184m to £210.5m.

This years’ PEP figure is £984,000, an increase of 8% on last year’s estimated £909,000.

The firm lists the Middle East as its fastest growing region, with a 28% spike in income growth in FY23-24, while UK income increased by 11%. The firm also attributes 24% of its overall income growth to its practice outside the UK and the Middle East. Ireland was also a standout, with a growth rate of more than 30% only two years after opening.

AG’s closing cash position has gone down by 5% from £146m last year to £139.1m.

The results showed double-digit growth across all nine of the firm’s core sectors, with financial services the highest-performing sector, contributing 30% of the firm’s overall income.

Total partner headcount was up 7% to 382, with 130 equity partners and 252 non-equity: an addition of 72 new partners, 52 lateral hires and 20 internally promoted.

Other areas of expansion included the opening of a new office in Berlin in January, along with the establishment of new offices in Madrid and Riyadh in May. The Madrid office welcomed 13 partners and their teams from KWM, while the Riyadh office marked CMS’s fourth location in the Middle East, joining existing offices in Dubai, Qatar, and Oman.

Some of the firm’s standout mandates from the last fiscal year include advising ASDA on its £2.3bn acquisition of EG Group’s UK and Ireland fuel, foodservice, grocery, and merchandise businesses; advising BT on the sale of London’s iconic BT Tower; and involvement in several high-profile public inquiries, including those related to Covid-19, the Post Office, infected blood, and Grenfell Tower.

‘These results show us continuing our positive trajectory with higher revenues, improved profitability and strong cash position’, said Andrew Johnston,  elected AG’s managing partner last November for a term that started on 1 May, in a statement.

‘AG’s continued momentum and strong balance sheet places us well to invest further in key markets, practice areas and sectors globally. The diversified nature of our business, coupled with our international expansion and other strategic investments, particularly in innovation and technology, means we are better placed than ever to support and service clients wherever they are doing business.’

anna.huntley@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Financial Regulatory and Disputes Summit: Stranger than fiction

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Financial Regulatory and Disputes Summit CMS

Even amid a stellar agenda at Legal Business’ Financial Regulatory and Disputes Summit 2023 last November, CMS’ session – Shams and charades: Lessons learned from abusive litigation against banks – made shockwaves around the auditorium of the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London’s Westminster.

Indeed, it’s not often that a panel discussion elicits gasps of astonishment from delegates, but that’s exactly what happened when CMS’ finance disputes partners Tom Dane and Vanessa Whitman (pictured) sat down with Neil Kitchener KC of One Essex Court to discuss their experience representing Allied Irish Banks in the curious case of Kallakis v AIB.

Legal Business

Financial results 22/23: CMS sees deceleration in revenue growth following last year’s standout figures

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Financial results 2022/23 CMS

CMS has reported a 6% uptick from last year’s €1.746bn to €1.862bn in global revenue growth in its recent set of financial results this week, with UK turnover also up by 6% to £686m from FY21/22’s £644m.

Despite the continued financial growth, revenue has slowed considerably since last year, which saw an 18% spike to the global top line and a 14% increase in UK turnover.As per the firm’s tradition, CMS has not made its PEP figure publicly available, however the figure is estimated to be £771,000 by Legal Business, essentially unchanged from last year’s £773,000.

‘The last 12 months have brought continued change and challenges, from inflationary pressures to geopolitical headwinds,’ said CMS’ UK senior partner Penelope Warne (pictured) in a statement. ‘However, as a business we have responded to these challenges and I’m proud of the growth we have achieved, and the resilience shown by our people to support our clients in these uncertain times.’

In its statement, the firm reported that 62 internal lawyers were promoted to partnership across CMS, with a total of 16 promoted in the UK alone. Furthermore, the firm made 15 lateral partner hires over the past 12 months.

CMS’ corporate practice was the most profitable practice area for the firm over the past year, bringing in 29% of the firm’s gross fee income. The dispute resolution practice came a close second, contributing to 28%.

‘2022 was a tough year for businesses across the globe,’ explained the firm’s chairman Pierre-Sébastien Thill.

Managing partner for CMS UK, Stephen Millar added: ‘Over the past year, we have seen solid results across all our practices and sectors, with our teams adapting to the needs of our clients who are facing a plethora of challenges including the economic uncertainty in markets, as well as new regulations.

‘While these uncertainties are likely to continue for all businesses, we are pleased to see the UK’s continued contribution to the firm’s growth and feel well placed as we look to the path ahead.’

Ayesha.Ellis@legalease.co.uk

 

Legal Business

Financials 2021/22: CMS rebounds from quiet year with double-digit revenue growth

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Financial Results 2021/22 CMS

CMS is the latest cab off the rank in unveiling its financial results, today (21 July) announcing global revenues of €1.746bn, a healthy 18% hike over 2021/22. The UK top line also saw solid growth, rising 14% to £644m.

The numbers make the firm one of the few to see greater growth in the last 12 months than in 20/21. Last year, the UK business was only able to muster a negligible £1m revenue rise, while the global figure was up 3%. UK managing partner Stephen Millar characterised the year as one of ‘real momentum and growth for the firm’, despite supply chain issues and the war in Ukraine. ‘Our business fundamentals remain strong, and we are confident that these will continue to serve us well as we head into the new financial year.’

As usual, the firm has not revealed its profit or PEP figures for the year. At a UK level, LLP accounts to April 2021 show a modest 2.6% increase in profit from £203.7m to £209m.

Responding to the figures, UK senior partner Penelope Warne (pictured) said: ‘As a future-facing firm, we look to the future with confidence and real determination. The last two years have brought about many changes in the world and the world of work, and we are proud of the way in which we have responded to these challenges and adapted to the changing environment to ensure that we are well positioned for the future. The strength of our business, driven by our clients’ confidence in the firm and our people, has allowed us to pursue our wider commitments and continue to inspire, impact and support our clients, our people and our communities through our wide-ranging ESG programme. From our CMS social impact fund through to our comprehensive D&I programme, we are delivering initiatives with impact.’

The firm’s key highlights in the last 12 months include a record number of partner promotions and the addition of Norwegian outfit Kluge as part of its global expansion strategy.

charles.avery@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

‘I believe in our victory’: Defiant Radchenko named CMS Kyiv managing partner

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Leadership CMS

CMS has named Vitaliy Radchenko the new managing partner of its Kyiv office, as the practice continues to contend with the repercussions of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

A 15-year veteran of the firm, Radchenko specialises in M&A and regulatory issues in the energy and power sectors, with a body of work that spans oil and gas, renewable power and mining and minerals.

CEE managing director Dóra Petrányi explained to Legal Business that the appointment was a long time coming: ‘We started the discussions quite a while ago, but then we put all discussions on hold when the war started. Now at this phase of the war we’ve decided that it is the right time to resume the discussions and actually to go ahead with the changes. We always knew that Vitaliy had the full support of all the Kyiv partners.’

The office Radchenko inherits is one forced to take drastic measures in response to the war. Having evacuated the city, staff now finds itself split between Western Ukraine and Budapest for the foreseeable future, though the team remains fully operational.

Speaking candidly with Legal Business, Radchenko acknowledged that the war has posed problems for the legal community in the country. ‘We have seen firms close offices. They even send partners away because they are not able to provide work to them. Some of the local firms almost completely disintegrated, which is a shame, but also understandable, given the circumstances.

‘Our M&A team is not only doing Ukrainian law-governed deals, but rather English law-governed deals in the region. Some other practices, real estate for example, have seen a significant drop off for obvious reasons. We are trying to restructure people’s involvement and find them work within the CMS network. We have also been successful in seconding people to some of the clients.’

Nevertheless, he maintained an optimistic outlook: ‘I believe in our victory, and you can see the change of the mood in Europe as well. Nobody thought we were able to withstand this aggression. I have no doubts that the business in Ukraine will only thrive in a couple of months’ time and we’ll go forward.’

Radchenko has replaced outgoing managing partner Graham Conlon, who hands over the reins after five years to take up a ‘revised CMS role’. An M&A specialist, Conlon is to continue in his role as head of international private equity for the CEE/CIS regions.

‘He’s not going anywhere,’ clarified Petrányi. ‘He is expanding his remit to the Middle East as a corporate and M&A transactional partner’.

charles.avery@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Legal Business Awards 2020 – Real Estate Team of the Year

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Legal Business Awards 2020 Addleshaw GoddardCMSLinklatersNorton Rose Fulbright

After much back-and-forth between the judges in a keenly contested category, we are now delighted to reveal the winner of Real Estate Team of the Year for the 2020 Legal Business Awards.

For this award, judges looked for a standout example of real estate-related work, including financing, development or construction, or cases and transactions in planning, environment and regeneration.

 

 

 

Sponsored by

Edwards Gibson

Winners – Addleshaw Goddard/Linklaters/Norton Rose Fulbright

These three firms collaborated to advise the joint venture between Permodalan Nasional Berhad and the Employees Provident Fund on its £1.58bn acquisition of the commercial assets within Phase 2 of the Battersea redevelopment project.

Once redeveloped, the iconic art deco power station building will house Apple’s new European HQ and a private members’ club, a 2,000 capacity events venue and over 250 residential homes along with luxury retail, food and beverage and leisure accommodation.

The deal focuses on one of London’s largest, most hotly-anticipated regeneration sites. Over the years, the site has been subject to a number of unsuccessful redevelopment attempts due to the significant challenges posed by the site – so much so that it has been described as being the ‘Everest of real estate’ on the basis that it is considered to be one of the toughest redevelopment projects in the world, with a number of developers having tried and failed to conquer it.

The transaction is anticipated to comprise one of the UK’s largest-ever single-asset real estate transactions. Linklaters, led by Patrick Plant, advised the joint venture purchaser; the seller (the owners of Battersea Power Station Development Company) was advised by an Addleshaw Goddard team headed by Leona Ahmed; with Norton Rose Fulbright (Dan Wagerfield and Dan Kennedy) acting for the seller on the financing aspects.

No individual firm stood out as contributing to the overall success of this deal: there were a number of different and complex parallel workstreams, which demanded fluid co-ordination between all three firms.

This truly collaborative process meant this entry stood apart. Christopher Gilchrist Fisher, senior director of CBRE Global Investors, said: ‘Without the co-operation and shared objectives of all involved, this transaction would not have happened. Deals of this level of complexity involve managing the multi-layered requirements of various stakeholders. They demand a new type of lawyer – one who works with their respective clients for the future success of the project, above individual requirements, and in the face of short-term gains.’

Highly commended – CMS

Acting for longstanding client Vita on its landmark £600m portfolio sale of Vita Student assets to DWS’s real estate funds. The portfolio comprises a total of 3,198 beds in Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds, Birmingham and Newcastle.

CMS fielded a multi-disciplinary team, led by partners Gareth Saynor and Peter Winnard, comprising over 35 advisers in Sheffield, Manchester, London and Edinburgh, to deliver this deal for Vita. This was a complex transaction requiring significant strategic advice at every stage and was of huge significance for the client, allowing it to scale up its growth and bring more innovative brands to market while continuing to deliver high-quality student accommodation. CMS played a pivotal role in helping the client to achieve its goals.

Other nominations

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner

Advising Grange Hotels on the sale of part of the reorganised group to Queensgate Investments for some £1bn, a portfolio comprising four upscale hotels offering around 930,000 sq ft of real estate.

Davitt Jones Bould

Advising The Royal Parks on a novel contract for events held at London’s major parks. With government funding diminishing, TRP was faced with raising over £30m annually and events are seen as key to its long-term financial viability.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

Continuing work on key client Blackstone’s real estate acquisitions and financings, including a joint venture with Telereal Trillium to acquire Network Rail’s £1.46bn commercial real estate portfolio, as well as on its acquisition of Dream Global REIT’s assets.

Womble Bond Dickinson

Advising South Tees Development Corporation on the acquisition and regeneration of TATA Steel’s former steel works on Teesside; this was the first transaction involving a mayoral development corporation outside of London.

Legal Business

Legal Business Awards 2020 – Competition Team of the Year

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Legal Business Awards 2020 CMSSidley Austin

The entries were reviewed and our panel of general counsel judges delivered their verdicts: we are now delighted to reveal the winner of Competition Team of the Year for the 2020 Legal Business Awards.

This award is given to the team based in either the UK or Brussels that can demonstrate crucial antitrust advice on a specific case, transaction or investigation, or was instrumental in steering a client through a regulatory minefield.

 

 

 

Sponsored by

Winner – CMS

Cox Automotive and Auto Trader agreed a joint venture (JV) to create Dealer Auction, a business-to-business online auction trading platform for the wholesale remarketing of vehicles.

Unusually, and recognising that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) merger control process was a central hurdle, the CMS competition team, led by co-head of competition Brian Sher, was instructed as sole counsel to lead that process for both JV parties.

The proposed JV coincided with a core focus on digital mergers by the CMA, against a backdrop of ongoing worldwide reviews into the application of competition law in the digital sector and a feeling the CMA had not done enough to prevent the adverse competition effects of increasing concentration in digital. This, combined with the fact that the JV would combine two platforms with sell-side market shares between 60 and 70% and limited direct competitors, led to a CMA theory of harm that the JV would eliminate a key ‘potential competitor’ to Cox, and that existing competitors were insufficient to constrain it from exercising market power. The CMA seemed intent on making this the first ‘potential competition’ case to go to a potentially punishing Phase Two review.

However, CMS managed to turn the CMA around during the Phase One process by demonstrating that the market shares over-stated the market power the JV would have given the close interaction between physical and digital sales; and the evidence that the conversion rate of Auto Trader’s listings site was likely to be lower than that of Cox’s digital auction platform.

CMS achieved an unexpectedly early victory, and this allowed integration to begin on time, saving the business risks that can come with a protracted competition delay. Such an effective handling of the competition process led Martin Forbes, chief executive officer of Cox Automotive, to say: ‘I was hugely impressed by the quality of thought, commitment, passion and work ethic with which CMS navigated us through this challenging CMA process. Simply put, they were outstanding. It really does feel like we snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and it feels good. Although absolutely the right decision by the CMA, I still can’t quite believe we managed to get this approved at Phase One.’

Highly Commended – Sidley Austin

Sidley’s London office, led by partner Marie Manley, was co-lead counsel to French pharmaceutical company Les Laboratoires Servier in a landmark case before the EU General Court against a European Commission decision alleging a breach of European competition rules for entering into patent settlement agreements with six generic companies.

In 2014, the European Commission imposed fines totalling €427.7m on Servier and the manufacturers, leading to a landmark test case in Europe. In December 2018 the General Court partially quashed the Commission’s ruling that Servier had engaged in anticompetitive conduct in the patent settlement agreements. Crucially, it annulled not only the decision on the anticompetitive nature of the agreement but also the conclusion that Servier was in a dominant position, holding that the relevant market had been too narrowly defined. As a result, the fine imposed on Servier was reduced by one-third – a significant victory for the innovative pharmaceutical industry. It was also the first time since 1973 that the General Court annulled a decision by the Commission on abuse of dominance based on an incorrect definition of the relevant market.

Other nominations

Ashurst/Gowling WLG

The two firms successfully collaborated in representing Economy Energy Trading and E (Gas and Electricity) to achieve a 75% reduction in combined financial penalties imposed by Ofgem for anti-competitive agreements in the prepayment meter segment.

Bristows

Successfully challenged the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport over a public interest intervention notice it had issued, raising concerns about investments in The Independent and The Evening Standard by Saudi Arabian investors.

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

Advising Connect Airways and Cyrus Capital Partners on their acquisition of Flybe Group, securing a rare derogation decision from the European Commission to allow the clients to complete the transaction prior to official merger clearance.

Slaughter and May

Overcoming significant opposition to Vodafone’s acquisition of Liberty Global’s telecoms businesses in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania. The deal was referred for Phase 2 investigation, but was cleared to give Vodafone the largest next-generation network in Europe.

Willkie Farr & Gallagher

Successfully representing Expedia in the Competition and Markets Authority’s 18-month investigation into online hotel booking sites in the UK, specifically into the display of ranking results and the comparison of offers.

Legal Business

LLP: CMS lifts profit amid Hong Kong and Istanbul restructuring as year-end move dampens NRF’s turnover

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Financial results 2018/19 CMSNorton Rose Fulbright

Operating profits at CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang rose 20% to £192.8m after the firm restructured its Hong Kong and Turkish offices, the LLP accounts have revealed.

Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) also filed its LLP books this week (31 January), showing a £2m decrease in revenue in its EMEA business to £480.7m following a move to the US calendar year-end in 2018.

The profit increase in the year to April 2019 at the 11 UK and 18 overseas offices under CMS’ UK LLP came despite a 13% rise in the firm’s pension contributions to just over £6m. The strong growth in the firm’s profits came amid a 5% turnover growth to £545.4m.

The accounts also revealed changes to the set-up of the Hong Kong and Istanbul offices, with CMS’ UK partnership ending its joint venture agreements in those two jurisdictions in February and January last year respectively.

CMS had opened its Hong Kong branch in 2016 as a joint venture between the UK and German partnerships, and in May 2018 it had formed an alliance with Hong Kong firm Shirley Lau & Co with a view to practising local law.

The LLP books showed the office has since February 2019 been operated only by the German member firm of CMS’ international alliance, CMS Hasche Sigle.

In Turkey meanwhile the firm put an end to its joint venture with local firm YBBK in January last year, and has since been operating through an association with the same firm.

As a result of the reshuffling, the Hong Kong and Turkish offices contributed just £13k and £69k respectively to the UK LLP’s billings in 2018/19, compared to £552k and £661k the year before.

A spokesperson for the firm told Legal Business that the changes were ‘a technical point of entity structure that in no way reflects our growth strategy’.

The LLP books also showed the firm has continued paying off the pension debt it inherited from legacy Nabarro, which stood at £17.2m when the firms merged in 2017.

As part of the recovery plan the firm has agreed to pay £1.25m in the current financial year and aims to eliminate the debt by May 2022.

After the three-way union with Nabarro and Olswang the firm also set up a £85m rolling credit facility with Lloyds Bank and RBS to finance merger costs, which this year’s accounts show was reduced to £65m in July 2018.

‘The costs of the merger have now been paid for and we ended the year in a strong positive cash position of £45m,’ the spokesperson said. ‘Given the strength of our business we have a reduced credit need.’

Staff costs rose 7% to £197,300 amid a 12% increase in fee-earner headcount to 1,738 and a 17% rise in support staff to 957. The average number of equity partners decreased by three to 373.

The total remuneration for firm’s management personnel in the year was up 8% to £4.3m, although the firm’s highest paid partner took home roughly the same as the previous year – £1.083m compared to £1.001m.

Meanwhile, the LLP books for NRF’s EMEA business showed a 5% fall in operating profits to £124.7m amid a slight decrease in turnover.

Speaking to Legal Business, the firm’s chief operating officer Rod Harrington connected the fall to the firm’s decision in 2018 to shift from the April year-end to the US calendar-year end reporting in a move to a more integrated global verein.

‘2018 was the first time we had a December year-end,’ Harrington said. ‘When we got to April, which is our statutory year-end [for the EMEA LLP], anything billed we can record as revenue; whereas any unbilled work can only be partially recognised as accrued income.’

The firm estimated that, like most firms, about 20-25% of its billing tended to be done towards the end of the calendar year and were therefore not fully accounted for in last year’s LLP books.

He also pointed to a 1.8% increase in cost, largely due to a rise in lawyers’ salaries. In October last year, the firm announced a further 9% increase to its NQ basic salary to £87,500 effective in January 2020, with bonuses of up to 30% on top of that.

Overall staff costs at NRF rose 2% to £213.7m in 2018/19 despite the average number of employees growing by just one to 2,232.

marco.cillario@legalease.co.uk