48 local authorities cherry pick five law firms for 4-year legal panel

Five law firms have been selected to provide legal advice to 48 local authorities in the East Midlands under the EM LawShare consortium umbrella.

Anthony Collins, Browne Jacobson, DLA Piper, Freeth Cartwright and Weightmans will offer legal advice on 13 different areas of law including contract, employment and corporate governance work.

The consortium was created in 2005 when 14 East Midlands councils joined forces to procure legal services in the first partnership agreement of its kind. It is now the biggest such consortium in the UK as Jayne Francis-Ward, Service Director of Legal and Democratic Services at Nottinghamshire County Council and leader of the EM LawShare consortium arrangement explained:

“This is a unique initiative. Other local authorities have established legal panels but the uniqueness of EM LawShare is firstly its size, with 48 councils as members and most importantly its partnership working ethos. This isn’t simply a call off contract but a hugely successful example of a real public private partnership.”

The benefits for member councils include costs saving, shared training, cooperation between large and small councils and of course obtaining the best legal advice available. Stuart Leslie from Derby City Council said:

“The consortium, which has members from all three tiers of local government, not only provides authorities with the ability to secure quality legal advice at very competitive rates and short notice; it also delivers significant added value benefits such as an annual training programme solely for and tailored to our members’ needs.”

Browne Jacobson, Weightmans and Freeth Cartwright originally obtained a four year contract with the consortium in 2006. They will now be joined by Anthony Collins and DLA Piper for a further four years.