CMS Russia Cuts 30 Jobs in Second Round of Layoffs

Sofia Lind

Legal Week

12-07-2009

CMS Russia has laid off 30 staff members in Moscow, including 10 fee earners, in a redundancy round which ended on Nov. 27.

The Moscow office has cut a total of 29 fee-earner positions and 32 support-staff roles throughout 2009, following a previous round of job cuts that closed in June.

The combined job cuts represent more than one-fifth of the fee-earner population at the time of the January launch of CMS Russia through the merger of the local offices of CMS Cameron McKenna and its French and German alliance firms CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre and CMS Hasche Sigle. Around 100 fee earners remain with CMS Russia following the redundancies.

The firm attributed the cuts to the significant reduction of work in the Moscow market as well as decreased profitability due to pressure on fees.

Office managing partner Jean-Francois Marquaire said: "The Moscow market is still very tough. When we performed the first round of redundancies we had hoped that the markets would pick up to a greater extent than they have. However, we are now well-shaped to move into the next year and we are committed to remaining a top law firm in Moscow.

"We still have one of the biggest offices in Moscow and the downsizing has not damaged the range of our capabilities as they have not singled out any practice area. I think everybody has had a bad year in Moscow. We have had our fair share of deals but with the pressure on fees, revenue is not what it was. We have trimmed the business and we will go into 2010 as an economically robust firm."

Cameron McKenna also made redundancies in its U.K. business earlier this year, with 73 members of staff leaving the firm when the consultation closed on June 8. In a bid to avoid further cuts and reduce costs, the firm also introduced a flexible-working scheme which put staff on four-day weeks and sabbaticals.

Other firms to have made reductions in the troubled Moscow market include Clifford Chance, Allen & Overy, Baker & McKenzie, White & Case and Denton Wilde Sapte.

The economic crisis was also blamed for Simmons & Simmons' decision to become the first major international firm to pull out of Moscow altogether last month.

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