CMS wades into Israeli market to bolster its Middle East strategy

CMS wades into Israeli market to bolster its Middle East strategy

The Tel Aviv office being launched on 1 October will be led by two London-based partners who plan to shuffle frequently between the two offices

Global law firm CMS has announced the opening of its new office in Israeli city Tel Aviv in a bid to bolster its Middle East presence.

The Tel Aviv office, seventh in the Middle East, will be launched on 1 October.

Corporate partner and current head of the Israeli practice Louis Glass will be led by the Tel Aviv team. He will be supported by real estate partner Andrew Besser. They will divide their time between their existing London base and the new Tel Aviv office.

"The office strengthens our ability to build on our successes across many practice areas by sharing our sector-focussed international offering with new and existing clients… This is a great milestone for CMS, for me personally and for all my colleagues who enthusiastically serve our Israeli clients daily," Glass, who also serves as the firm's TMT sector lead in London, said, terming launch of the Tel Aviv office was a "natural next step" for the development of the firm's Israeli practice.

CMS's guiding vision behind opening of the new office is that establishing an on-the-ground presence in Israel will enable the firm create deeper integration between its the Middle East and Israeli practices.

The decision to establish its physical presence in Tel Aviv comes at a time when Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are celebrating the first anniversary of the historic Abraham Accords aimed at normalising relations between the two countries and opening up collaboration on tourism, trade, technology and more. UAE became the third Arab world nation to sign an accord with Israel since Israel had signed similar accords with Jordan in 1994 and Egypt in 1979.

"Israel is a fast-growing export-led economy with remarkable strength and talent in the innovative industries. It's the home to our many important Israeli clients and a key location for our non-Israeli clients too. Having a physical presence will help us support our clients more effectively," Stephen Millar, managing partner of CMS UK, said.

CMS at present has more than 125 lawyers across its existing six offices in the Middle East -- Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Iraq, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.