CMS appoints first director of operations

CMS has stepped towards greater integration between the network’s nine firms after it appointed its first ever director of operations and relocated its headquarters to Frankfurt.

The network, which includes CMS Cameron McKenna in the UK, has named Matthew Gorman as its first director of operations. Gorman has been a consultant at Germany’s CMS Hasche Sigle for the last year, coming from a business development role in Clifford Chance.

He will be responsible for CMS’s finance, risk management, business development, HR and IT functions.

The moves come as CMS is gearing up to vote on whether to converge into one firm (see The Lawyer, 5 November) with one name to the outside world. But the convergence would stop short of profit-sharing, with each legacy CMS firm keeping financial independence.

Also up for discussion is whether or not CMS’ general management should be overhauled as part of the convergence. Currently, it has an executive committee chaired by Pierre-Sébastien Thill and executive partner Robert Derry-Evans.

Up until now, the network’s headquarters have been in Brussels. They will now move to Frankfurt, where they will share CMS Hasche Sigle’s office space.

CMS Hasche Sigle’s managing partner Cornelius Brandi said: "I am sure Matthew Gorman's appointment will contribute substantially to the continued growth and success of CMS and I look forward to welcoming our CMS colleagues to their new Frankfurt home."