CMS absorbs French firm as European network expandsCMS, the 12-country European legal network formed by City firm Cameron McKenna, has bagged another member - French firm Bureau Francis Lefebvre (BFL).The addition of the top five Paris-based corporate firm, which has 72 partners and 320 advocates, gives CMS new links with Buenos Aires, Casablanca, Madrid and New York, where BFL has offices.Additional BFL offices in Berlin, Brussels and Bucharest will pool resources with CMS's existing members in those cities.Richard Taylor, chairman of CMS and a partner with CMS Cameron McKenna, said the move completed CMS's plan 'to have at its core a top-tier law firm in each of the three major European jurisdictions - Germany, France and the UK'.

CMS has other members in the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Switzerland.Mr Taylor said the way was now clear for CMS to find members in Italy, Spain and Portugal, Scandinavia and Greece, probably in that order.Jeremy Fleming