CMS Cameron McKenna's back office outsourcing partner Integreon has taken on 20 staff from Dundas & Wilson's support team following this month's merger between the two firms.

The former Dundas staff will support the combined firm onsite in CMS's offices working across Integreon's finance, learning and development, training, document production, HR and knowledge management units. 

The legacy firms jointly cut 60 support staff roles before the merger, with 40 support jobs at Dundas affected and 20 posts cut at CMS, although some of the latter were employed through Integreon and fellow third-party providers Initial and Xerox. In addition, CMS UK has started sending work to legacy Dundas' paralegal-led legal services unit in Glasgow, which currently staffs 17 lawyers and is intended to cut costs for clients.

The move is what CMS UK managing partner Duncan Weston describes as "one of the benefits" of the £227m tie-up, although he stresses that only a small number of matters are currently being referred to the Glasgow unit.

"I anticipate volumes will increase in future but for now they remain nominal," adds Weston. "It's a relatively small part of the business but it may grow." 

The Scottish merger has attracted criticism from some quarters, with one former CMS partner suggesting it was centred around "courting more low-cost, high-volume work". According to the partner, the union will boost "turnover, not profitability". 

Weston, however, insists that the tie-up is "not a low-cost resourcing proposition" and has forecast profit growth for the combined firm.

"We [CMS] did the deal for three reasons: first, to achieve UK growth, which we have by 25%; second, to build on our core strengths of financial services and energy; and third, to acquire Dundas as an asset with high-quality lawyers," he says.

"We have never positioned this as a transformational merger, but it is a way for the UK firm to increase in size and turnover, and to increase the depth of our offering in the financial services and energy sectors so that we can establish ourselves as a major player in those areas. We are leveraging work in and out of the City, depending on its cost profile." 

CMS UK sharpened its sector focus last summer to prioritise four of its eight key areas: energy, life sciences, financial institutions and technology, media and telecoms. 

"We are setting up in locations to exploit our key sectors. Dundas was the important piece of the puzzle we were lucky to find, and formed part of our main strategy," explains Weston.

However, market observers remain sceptical over whether the firm has chosen to bulk up in the right places, particularly with the US and Asia-Pacific remaining obvious gaps in its coverage. 

"I suspect the Dundas merger will not add a great deal to CMS's capabilities," comments one former partner. "There does not seem to be any visionary strategy. CMS still lacks the US, but more importantly it lacks the quality it needs to succeed."

"We prioritise the US as a market we want to know better, and we are also researching expansion to other markets such as Australia," Weston counters. "It is an ongoing journey that takes a lot of time and effort – it is not something we can do overnight."

He adds that the firm is currently concentrating on its office moves in London, Paris, Frankfurt and Russia – all set to take place this year.

On the Dundas side of the deal, CMS Scotland executive partner Caryn Penley – who was previously co-managing partner at the legacy Scottish firm – says the merger has allowed the firm to "gain an international brand we could not have had in our previous form".

"It is about two firms with a similar culture and compatible client business joining together. Everything has come together so easily from day one and we have had fantastic feedback," says Penley.