CMS is one of the pre-eminent transport practices in the market, providing a full-service offering and acting on premium mandates across the road, rail, marine and aviation sectors. The firm was appointed to the Network Rail Scotland Panel in April 2024 and recruited seasoned rail expert Barry Edgar from Dentons, who arrived in September 2023. Eleanor Lane leads the practice and spearheads the firm’s large-scale public transport projects, including the A9 dualling programme and the Glasgow Subway Modernisation Project. Mark McMurray is a road and traffic regulation specialist, while Christine Worthington‘s far reaching practice encompasses instructions pertaining to investment, procurement and commercial issues. Wendy Nicolson is a key port of call for public authorities for procurement and competition instructions, and Christopher Dickson focuses on construction mandates. Keith Campbell is present on a range of projects, chiefly acting for developers in major road ventures.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Over the past few years, this practice has undertaken a number of major transport projects. This experience has given members of the team a familiarity with transport law that enables them to deal with client needs in this field with considerable confidence.’
Key clients
- Transport Scotland/Scottish Government
- The City of Edinburgh Council
- Commissioner for Northern Lighthouses acting through the Northern Lighthouse Board
- Dragados UK Limited
- Strathclyde Partnership for Transport
- Stirling Council
- LS Buchanan Limited
- Edinburgh Tram Limited
- Renfrewshire Council
- Highlands & Islands Airports Limited
- East Renfrewshire Council
- Nuveen Real Estate
- Hargreaves Land
- Equinor
- BP
- NEO
- Energy EnQuest
Work highlights
- Advising Transport Scotland/Scottish Ministers on the legal aspects of the £3bn dualling programme of the A9 between Perth & Inverness.
- Advising Northern Lighthouse Board on the contracts for a new-build vessel from Astilleros Gondan S.A. via a regulated public procurement, with funding provided by the Department for Transport.
- Advising Serco Caledonian Sleeper on the unwinding of its rail fleet finance contracts at the point when the sleeper service between London and Scotland was taken in-house by the Scottish Ministers.
Lawyers
Hall of Fame
The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Eleanor Lane