CMS has promoted 54 partners in its latest promotions round, including 10 across the UK. 

Like many firms, CMS has promoted a smaller number to partner this year than in 2023, when it made up a record 65 lawyers.

The latest round includes 22 women – 41% of the total, an increase from last year’s 33% and more in line with 2022, when women made up 43% of the 60-strong cohort. The high-water mark for the firm was in 2019 when 47% of the cohort was female.

The firm did not respond immediately to a request by GLP to comment on the gender breakdown. Law firms, however, generally warn against taking individual promotion rounds in isolation and instead point to broader trends.

While CMS does not publish numeric diversity targets, its diversity and inclusion charter commits it to “continuously improving all aspects pertaining to diversity and inclusion”.

This includes “maintaining equitable gender representation among leadership positions; achieving women’s representation, appointed as partners pro rata to the number of female members and training members to promote diversity and inclusion across the organisation, including in order to rule out any unconscious bias”.

The firm’s latest promotions round spanned 24 cities across the UK, Europe, Latin America and Asia. Like last year some 39 new partners are spread across the firm’s network of continental European offices, including three in Sweden, where the firm announced last November it was joining forces with 150-lawyer firm Wistrand in a move that handed it offices in Stockholm and Gothenburg. 

Meantime the UK tally was down by six to 10, including corporate duo Craig Wilson and Michael Carroll, whose promotions follow reports last September CMS was kicking off a redundancy consultation affecting its UK corporate practice amid a sharp downturn in global deal markets. 

There were also four promotions in South America – three in the Chilean capital Santiago and another in Lima, Peru. The final promotion went to construction and energy disputes lawyer Asya Jamaludin in Singapore.  

This time round there were no promotions in the Middle East, where last October CMS hired the head of Clyde & Co’s Saudi Arabia disputes practice, Mohammed Aldowish, for its own debut in the Kingdom.  

In terms of practice area, 13 of the lawyers promoted are part of the firm’s corporate and corporate/M&A teams, while 10 got the nod in the tax practice. Five were made up in the employment practice and four apiece made the grade in the banking and finance and real estate teams. There were also three promotions in the construction team, with the rest of the appointments spread across diverse practice areas including IP, litigation and arbitration, public law, investment funds, energy and climate change and public procurement, among others.  

“We’re delighted to welcome this exceptional group of lawyers to the partnership,” said Charles Currier, who will succeed Penelope Warne as senior partner of CMS’s UK LLP at the end of this month.  

“Our global promotions showcase the depth of talent within the firm and reaffirm our commitment to rewarding excellence across diverse geographies and practice areas,” he added.  

The round includes promotions that take effect between 2 May 2023 and 1 May 2024.

It follows CMS reporting last August that it grew revenue 6.2% in 2022 to €1.862bn off the back of increased commercial, disputes and employment work. The firm does not disclose its profits or profit per equity partner. 

A full list of the promotions can be found here.