CMS Cameron McKenna is set to outsource its entire support staff function after signing an agreement with Integreon.

The UK top 20 firm's staff were informed of the move in a series of briefings this morning.

Under the terms of the deal, Integreon will review Camerons' entire UK back office function, including all support departments, to establish which parts can be transferred to a separate Integreon-run outsourcing centre.

The deal could see the entire 200-staff operation employed by the outsourcing company with Camerons expecting to save 10%-15% of costs through the arrangement. The review will take four months and the new set-up will then be implemented between October and the end of the year.

Camerons said that the agreement covers the provision of services to the firm valued at £583m over a 10-year period and the development of a shared service model which could be made available to other law firms.

Because Integreon does not currently have a London-based outsourcing centre, the deal is likely to see the company take space in Camerons' offices, at least during the remaining four years of Camerons' lease on the firm's current London headquarters.

The partnership will then be used as a prototype for Integreon to sell the model to other law firms, which could also be able to sign up to use the shared support centre.

A Camerons spokesperson said that no staff have yet been consulted about potential redundancies that could result from the measures.

Managing partner Duncan Weston said: "We are not anticipating any redundancies at the moment. We want this to be seen as something which will be positive for the career development of our business support staff with the opportunities that they will have at Integreon."

Camerons will also review future legal process outsourcing opportunities with Integreon, but no legal services have been included in the initial deal.

The firm has looked at a number of models and potential outsourcing partners over the last 18 months. Weston confirmed that Integreon's legal process outsourcing capabilities was a factor in the decision.

He also said he hopes that all nine CMS network firms will sign up to the model, although as yet there is not set time frame for this. A subcommittee from the CMS executive will monitor the four-month due diligence process that will now commence.