Member Profile

Penelope Warne is The Senior Partner and Chairman of the UK Board. She is also Head of Energy.

Penelope, an oil and gas specialist, joined the firm in 1993 to set up the Aberdeen office and has a strong growth track record. In 25 years, she has transformed CMS’ practice in Scotland from one person in Aberdeen to the market leading practice in Scotland due to the combination with Dundas & Wilson in 2014. As the Energy practice group leader, she opened offices in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Brazil, Mexico and Dubai. Her practice spans the globe advising clients in the oil and gas industry in the North Sea, the US, Norway, Brazil, EMEA and Russia.

Penelope is at the cutting edge of oil industry issues, she is active in thought leadership and trains oil industry lawyers in her role as an Honorary Fellow and Trustee of the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy at Dundee University. She is also a member of the Foundation Board at IMD, the highly acclaimed international business school based in Lausanne, Switzerland. CMS runs its Partner Induction Programme in conjunction with IMD and also runs a scholarship programme for associates to secure places on IMD’s Building on Talent programme.

Penelope is ranked as a Leading Energy Expert in both Chambers and Legal 500. She was also ranked in “The Sunday Times Britain’s 500 Most Influential” in 2015 and also in 2016 as one of only 20 in the law category, and was recognised as a leading innovative individual by the Financial Times in 2015. She was awarded 'Best in Energy, Natural Resources and Mining' at Euromoney's Europe Women in Business Law Awards in 2012 and 2013, and has been recognised in The Lawyer's Hot 100.

Penelope works globally with governments, energy industry specialists and academics and is a member of the Oxford University Vice Chancellor's Circle.

Penelope is a great supporter of Diversity & Inclusion and is proud to lead the fundraising in her firm for War Child, who provide safe havens and education for children in war zones.

CMS’ energy team brings together legal experts who have advised on every tier of the energy sector, from upstream oil & gas and power generation, through to network, wholesale and retail businesses and strategic investors and specialist players. We advise on a variety of matters on a daily basis, including on commercial arrangements, M&A, financing, trading, and dispute resolution.

From working on the largest and most complex oil and gas deals in the sector and being among the first legal advisers to advise on power projects in Europe, to establishing a single electricity market in Northern Ireland and Ireland and working on renewable energy projects throughout Europe, we have an unrivalled breadth of knowledge and considerable experience of working on the full range of energy matters.

Energy is at the heart of CMS. Our global dedicated energy team is made up of nearly 200 lawyers who work within every part of the energy sector, including upstream and downstream oil & gas, electricity in all its forms including generation, networks, wholesale and retail markets, nuclear and renewables including solar and other green energy and clean tech. Over the last three decades, our experts have helped shape the sector by creating the legal frameworks upon which many of our clients’ markets are based.

We have developed an understanding of the practical and commercial issues specific to the energy sector that impact our clients, and we at all times seek to ensure that the advice we provide meets those commercial and practical requirements. Our practice covers:

• Cleantech

• Electricity

• Energy Disputes

• Nuclear

• Oil & Gas

• Power Projects

• Renewable Energy

• Water

Ping Petroleum / Hibiscus Petroleum – CMS acted as legal advisors to Hibiscus Petroleum and Ping Petroleum on their acquisition of the Anasuria cluster (UKCS) from Shell and Esso, including interests in the Anasuria FPSO (floating, production, storage and offloading vessel) and the Teal, Teal South, Guillemot A and Cook fields.

White Rose Energy Ventures LLP and Genel Energy Plc - CMS acted as legal advisers to White Rose Energy Ventures LLP and Genel Energy Plc in connection with their joint acquisition of a combined 15 percent interest in Blocks 38/11 and 39/11, offshore Angola.

National Grid Carbon - CMS has been advising National Grid since the start of its Carbon Capture and Storage programme which started in 2009. Over the past 6 years, CMS has been deeply embedded in the development of CCS in the UK and continues to be so.

EDF Energy Renewables Ltd - CMS advised EDF Energy Renewables on the acquisition and continued development of the 177MW Dorenell Wind Farm.

Repsol – CMS provided advice to Repsol on the sale of its entire portfolio of offshore wind farms to Chinese state-owned State Development & Investment Corporation.

Penelope comments regularly in both sector and national press. Recent examples include:

- Energy Voice asking if private equity is diving into the North Sea?

- Regular column in The Press & Journal.

- The Press & Journal on the recent Paris climate change talks.

- Co-author of the Chambers and Partners’ UK Energy: Oil & Gas guide for 2016.

Penelope regularly appears in the national media and has been featured on a number of high profile panel discussions including Davos in which she discussed the ‘Future of Energy’. Her achievements nationally have been recognised in The Financial Times, The Times and most recently in the Sunday Times in which she is ranked as one of “Britain’s 500 Most Influential People.”

Penelope is a member of the Foundation Board at IMD, the highly acclaimed international business school based in Lausanne, Switzerland. CMS runs its Partner Induction Programme in conjunction with IMD and also runs a scholarship programme for associates to secure places on IMD’s Building on Talent programme.

Penelope is a great supporter of Diversity & Inclusion and is proud to lead the fundraising at CMS for War Child, who provide safe havens and education for children in war zones.

Penelope is ranked as a Leading Energy Expert in both Chambers and Legal 500. She was ranked in “The Sunday Times Britain’s 500 Most Influential” in 2015 and also in 2016 as one of only 20 in the law category, and was recognised as a leading innovative individual by the Financial Times in 2015. She was awarded 'Best in Energy, Natural Resources and Mining' at Euromoney's Europe Women in Business Law Awards in 2012 and 2013, and has been recognised in The Lawyer's Hot 100.

Penelope is at the cutting edge of oil industry issues, she is active in thought leadership and trains oil industry lawyers in her role as an Honorary Fellow and Trustee of the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy at Dundee University.