Sam De Silva
CMS1
TMT
Regarded as a team with ‘strength and depth’, CMS advises its clients on the full gamut of transactional, commercial, and disputes issues. Beyond these key strengths, the group also frequently advises lenders on financing large projects within the sector. Recent standout engagements have seen the team working with a major tech multinational on its defense of a potentially lucrative damages claim concerning private international and competition litigation licensing laws. The wider TMT team is headed by Clive Gringras, who routinely advises on both cross-border transactions and litigation. Matthew Bennett is also a key name to note for outsourcing, offshoring and shared services, as well as procurement, logistics, and commercial contracts. Sam De Silva is noted for his expertise in cloud computing, outsourcing, and software licensing. Rebekah Hayes is also a key name to note.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Rebekah Hayes and her team are the best kind of people. Smart, diligent, hard working and timely. This makes them a joy to work with on transactions.’
‘Rebekah Hayes - simply the best media lawyer I have ever worked with. She managed a transaction in four days. All drafting. All negotiating. Signing and us funding. From Monday to Thursday. Amazing.
- 'Laurel O'Dell - lovely and smart, a joy to work with. ’
‘The CMS Team provides effective, practical and implementable legal advice, based on a deep understanding of the technology issues and an appreciation for the requirements of different jurisdictions.’
‘The CMS Team, under the leadership of Sam De Silva, has made an effort to understand the business of our clients and the legal requirements of our jurisdiction. This has facilitated our ability to hone in on the issues requiring CMS' advice and to obtain practical advice.’
‘It's a TMT team that has strength and depth - and actually over the years, it has become clear that some of those mergers were very smart in the TMT sector. It's not often you get big City firm who can service the whole of the T, M and T bits, but this firm really can.’
‘Ian Stevens totally 'gets' technology. It's clear that he's taken the time to understand the nuts and bolts of it, is deeply embedded with clients, etc. ’
‘CMS is the stand-out firm for all matters related to media and technology. It is really the only firm with deep sector knowledge in all the key legal services , whether corporate, commercial, employment, finance, tax, litigation and IP . It is the gold standard of sector knowledge delivered by an extremely experienced collection of highly commercial lawyers.’
Key clients
- ING
- Digicel Caribbean Limited
- OpenAI
- Yondr Group Limited
- Microsoft
- The Football Association Premier League Limited
- ITV
- Sky
- BBC
- Disney
Work highlights
- Instructed by OpenAI’s General Counsel on multiple confidential disputes, necessitating cross-border actions and litigation strategies.
- Advised the Premier League throughout its sales process for its UK rights for the 2025/26 – 2028/29 football seasons.
- Advised and negotiated a +$2.8bn 10-year strategic cloud and data deal between Microsoft and the London Stock Exchange Group.
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Clive Gringras