Munir Hassan, CMS’s energy and climate change group head, was instrumental in the firm winning the mandate to advise the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), which it handled pro bono. But the energy specialist makes this year’s Hot 100 for much more than a single instruction, albeit in a sector that appears unassailable in its importance both strategically for firms and for the planet.
For starters, the global head of CMS’s 800-lawyer energy group across 80 offices, who began his professional life as an electricity specialist advising on privatisations, is currently involved in many of the UK’s most significant offshore wind projects. Indeed, his team is at the forefront of the latest developments in renewable energy and technology including floating offshore wind projects, hydrogen schemes, and carbon capture projects. Hassan has also steered his team’s path through a period of explosive growth in the sector. As he puts it, “right now the energy sector is about as buoyant and expanding as it has ever been”.