As with any newly-appointed managing partner, CMS Cameron McKenna's Central & Eastern European (CEE) chief, Duncan Weston, will be keen to get his feet under the desk before he decides which parts of the firm he wants to develop. As soon as he does, corporate will most likely be one of the areas on his agenda.

When Camerons advised on National Grid's £14.8bn merger with gas giant Lattice back in 2002, it was not viewed as all that unusual. The firm was well-regarded in M&A and had advised the client on a series of big-ticket deals. But skip forward a few years and the firm's transactional practice would be heralded as punching well above its weight if it secured a similar-sized role.

Mergermarket statistics show that in the last three years the CMS network has advised on 475 ranked deals with a combined total of €146bn (£105bn). This gives it an average deal value of €308m (£221m). This figure is no doubt knocked down partly due to the small deals done by its CEE offices and to Camerons' unashamed commitment to venture capital and biotech work.

Even so, compare this with the firm's traditional rivals and it is evident that Camerons has advised on a high volume of deals, but the average size of the transactions make it look altogether mid-market. Simmons & Simmons' average deal size for the same period is €723m (£520m), while Lovells' is €568m (£408m). White & Case's average deal value is €645m (£463m) and even the finance-driven Norton Rose has managed €399m (£287m).

That there are not more is surprising as Camerons boasts an enviable client base, especially in energy and insurance. BP, GE, Lloyds TSB, Prudential and Swiss Re Group are just some of the major institutions the firm enjoys strong relationships with. But few of these use the firm as their lead corporate counsel.

The firm also puts much store in its sector focus but one problem it has faced in recent years is that so many rivals have emulated what was once a fairly innovative approach, making its selling point less distinctive.

The doughnut dilemma

Some of the firm's more self-critical partners do concede the danger of Camerons' business resembling a ring doughnut in its make-up, as the fringe practices seem to drive the firm more than any central department.

Then again, the firm's corporate practice currently generates around 40% of its £197m turnover, a percentage the firm wants to increase to 50% by 2009. To do this the firm knows it needs to expand and has gone against its traditional policy by making three lateral partner hires so far this year.

Corporate head Andrew Sheach also said that the firm is not fixated by deal size and will simply seek to look after its clients. Sheach also stresses that the team is growing, some evidence of which can be seen with the team's success in cross-selling with other departments to secure recent first corporate instructions from existing clients including Alfred McAlpine, Sainsbury's and Kier.

And to be fair, with a H1 turnover increase of more than 20% for the firm and the department, Camerons' results are far from being in decline. The question now is whether signs that the firm wants to bring a little more drive to its practice will lead to results. As important will be whether its hopes of selling blanket-European coverage through its CMS network can build on its new managing partner's successes in the CEE region. If Weston is to make sure the firm keeps pace with its peers, making sure the corporate push is on track will not be a bad place to start.

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