International law firm CMS is pleased to announce that Melanie Hughes and Paul Paling have joined as partners in the firm’s Real Estate Transactions Practice in London. They bring with them a team of four, with a strong residential and mixed-use development practice.
 
Melanie and Paul are both highly experienced real estate lawyers with extensive experience of all aspects of property work, with a particular focus on mixed-use development projects, off plan sales and pre-lets, and acquisitions and disposals of investment properties.  They have acted for a range of clients including institutional funds, commercial developers, private investors and corporate tenants, and have deep expertise in the delivery of residential development within large scale mixed-use schemes, from the initial structuring elements through to delivery of the residential units. 
 
Melanie’s and Paul’s appointment follows the promotion to partner in the Real Estate Transactions Practice of Irfaan Khaliq and Scott Curtis, and Sara Keag in the Real Estate Disputes team, as announced in the recent CMS 2023 round of global partner promotions. 
 
John Cumpson, Co-Head of Real Estate at CMS commented: “We’re delighted to welcome Melanie, Paul and their team to CMS.  We know what great lawyers Melanie and Paul are and how embedded they are in the Real Estate Market.  As a team they bring real depth of expertise in the structuring and delivery of residential and mixed-use schemes which will further enhance and strengthen our offering at a time when so many of our clients are focussing on the residential sector.” 
 
Added Melanie and Paul: “We are excited to join the team and work with new colleagues both in the UK and across CMS globally.” 

Melanie, Paul and their team join CMS from Michelmores.