Market-leading partnership, employment and professional regulatory law firm, CM Murray LLP, has expanded its practice with the appointment of professional practices specialist, Corinne Staves. Corinne joins the firm from Maurice Turnor Gardner, where she was Head of the Professional Practices Team. In addition, Sarah Chilton, Head of CM Murray LLP’s Partnership Disputes & Investigations practice, has also been appointed to Senior Partner.
Corinne’s arrival builds upon the market-leading reputation of CM Murray LLP’s Partnership Law practice, including: its renowned Partnership Disputes & Investigations practice, led by Senior Partner, Sarah Chilton; its Partnership Structuring and M&A practice, successfully launched in June 2018 by Partnership practice Co-Head, Zulon Begum; and its Professional Discipline & Regulation practice led by Partner Andrew Pavlovic, who joined the firm in December 2021. Corinne’s appointment is the fourth senior hire made by the firm since the start of 2021. *
Appointment of Corinne Staves as Partner at CM Murray LLP
Recognised by Legal 500 2022 as a Leading Individual and “a complete star…one of the best in the market” and ranked as Band 1 by Chambers & Partners for her Partnership work, Corinne has a wealth of experience in advising both firms and individual partners on a wide range of matters, including new firm launches, partner admissions, mergers and demergers, LLP conversions and capital events, risk management and compliance matters, governance and structuring as well as partner and team moves.
Corinne was the first female Chair of the Association of Partnership Practitioners and is an active member of the Professional Practices Alliance, of which CM Murray LLP is a fellow founder member.
Corinne’s expertise reinforces the firm’s deep bench-strength and full service offering to its Professional Services clients in all their sensitive LLP & Partnership Law & Professional Discipline & Regulatory needs, including LLP and ABS conversions and law firm mergers, while further strengthening its Band 1 and Tier 1 partnership law practices. It also continues CM Murray LLP’s trajectory of growth, reinforcing the firm’s reputation and bench-strength in complex, high-value LLP and Partnership issues.
Appointment of Sarah Chilton as Senior Partner of CM Murray LLP
Described by Chambers & Partners 2022 as “a sharp, knowledgeable operator” for her contentious Partnership work, and ranked as a Leading Individual by Legal 500 for Partnership law, Sarah has been appointed to the role of Senior Partner of CM Murray LLP.
Sarah, who joined CM Murray LLP in October 2016, is a specialist in partnership and employment law. She advises partners, partnerships, LLP members and LLPs on a wide range of issues and has extensive experience advising in relation to partner investigations and disciplinary matters, often engaging both regulatory and criminal issues.
Sarah regularly advises clients on expulsion; rights in relation to discretionary decision making; partner exits; remuneration structures and disputes; breach of duties; restrictive covenants; team moves and dissolution of partnerships. Much of her work is cross-border and involves contentious partnership and LLP matters, acting for individuals and firms. As an employment and partnership lawyer she has particular expertise in the cross-over of these disciplines which arise in relation to whistleblowing, discrimination and harassment issues as they relate to partners and LLP members.
Clare Murray, Founder and Managing Partner of CM Murray LLP, commented on the appointments:
“I am delighted and honoured that Corinne is joining us. She is an absolutely wonderful addition to our team, and we go back a long way. Corinne and Zulon are both at the forefront of LLP & Partnership M&A and structuring work, and LLP and ABS conversions, in the UK and internationally, and we are incredibly lucky to have both market leaders in non-contentious LLP and Partnership issues in our firm. In the meantime, we will continue to collaborate closely with our very good friends at Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP.
“I am also thrilled about Sarah’s appointment to Senior Partner. Sarah is a phenomenal and hugely respected partnership and employment lawyer, and her appointment as Senior Partner is a really important step forward in the next phase of our firm’s growth and development.”
Corinne Staves commented:
“CM Murray LLP has a well-deserved market leading reputation for partnerships, LLPs and professional practices work. I am therefore really excited to join the team and to play my part in the growth and success of this partnership, LLPs and professional practices powerhouse.”
Clare Maurice, Senior Partner of Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP commented:
“Corinne has been a highly valued member of our firm and we are very grateful to her for her enormous contribution. We are very sorry that she is leaving us, but we fully understand and respect her decision to focus on professional practices and partnership clients and to find a more suitable platform for that focus. CM Murray LLP offers Corinne a fantastic opportunity for this work. We wish Corinne and CM Murray LLP every success and we look forward to opportunities for collaboration.”
Sarah Chilton, Senior Partner of CM Murray LLP commented:
“I am very pleased to be taking up this new role, as our firm continues to grow with the addition of Corinne. I am excited to focus on the growth and development of our brilliant team, whilst continuing to deliver excellent advice to clients, collaborating with friends and colleagues across the sector and the world, and supporting my colleagues in their own growth and development.”
*Corinne’s appointment is the fourth senior lawyer addition to CM Murray LLP since the start of 2021, as the firm continues to build strategically on its premier reputation in employment and partnership law. This follows Emma Bartlett’s appointment as Partner in January 2021 (joining from CRS), SRA regulatory and professional discipline specialist Andrew Pavlovic’s appointment in December 2021 (joining from Russell Cooke) as Partner and Head of its Professional Discipline Law practice, and the appointment of Alison Downie, as a Senior Consultant (joining from Goodman Derrick LLP).
CM Murray LLP is Ranked Band 1 and Tier 1 for Partnership Law by Chambers and Partners UK and Legal 500 UK, and is recognised as “one of the legal world’s strongest offerings in this area.”
Read our Partnership and LLP Law Practice Booklet and Annual Review here.
