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 House trained
As budgets come under scrutiny and fewer public sector employees seem destined to be charged with delivering more, what is the future for training? Ann Harlow explains why it is more important than ever.
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 Big = beautiful?
EM Lawshare is easily the largest legal services consortium in the UK. Philip Hoult asks Nottinghamshire County Council's Jayne Francis-Ward where the group goes from here.
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Association for local government barristers attacks "excessive" PC fee hike
The chairman of the association representing barristers in local government and the public sector has attacked Bar Council proposals to increase PC fees significantly for employed barristers as “quite disproportionate and excessive”.
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Oxfordshire authorities name eight firms to framework agreement
A consortium including all local authorities in Oxfordshire and the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority has selected eight law firms to provide advice under a legal services framework agreement.
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ACSeS to explore relationship between chief executives and chief legal officers
ACSeS is to conduct research into the relationship between chief executives and chief legal officers. The survey will consider a range of issues, including whether the CLO is expected to play a wider role than traditionally.
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Where now?
If your business needs reinvigorating or re-inventing, simply giving it a corporate comb-over by merely tinkering at the edges, will achieve nothing. Geoff Wild considers the way forward.
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Employed barristers face PC fee hike
Employed barristers are facing major rises in their PC fees under reforms unveiled by the Bar Council. Its treasurer suggested there was a similar regulatory risk between the employed and self-employed bar.
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Law Society of Ireland takes legal action over lawyer transfer scheme
The Law Society of Ireland has instigated judicial review proceedings against the Legal Services Board and the SRA over the new regime for overseas lawyers who want to requalify as solicitors in England and Wales.
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Tips for the top
Last month, ACSeS hosted the Leadership Summit, a seminar for local government lawyers looking to progress to chief executive roles. Nicholas Dobson recalls the highlights.
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Legal Services Board approves £428 PC fee
The cost of a practising certificate for local government solicitors in 2010/11 will be £428 after the Legal Services Board this week approved the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s new fee policy.
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Pannone bolsters local government team with Dobson hire
Manchester law firm Pannone has recruited high-profile local government lawyer Nicholas Dobson as a senior consultant. Dobson said the firm was a "serious and substantial player".
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Cornwall launches multi-million pound tender for legal services
Cornwall Council has launched a tender for a legal services framework agreement potentially worth more than £10m over four years. It will be made available to a wide range of other public sector organisations.
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Fit for the future?
Are ProcureCos the beginning of an integrated legal profession or a false dawn? Ian Dodd assesses the Bar Council's recent guidance and looks at the potential benefits for local authorities.
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Liverpool offers severance to all staff earning £40k+, frontline ineligible
Liverpool City Council has invited all staff earning more than £40,000 to apply for voluntary severance under a discretionary compensation scheme. Some members of the legal team will be able to apply.
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The new normal
For 21st century lawyers, doing the right thing means going well beyond the traditional professional rules and conventions, writes Paul Gilbert.
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South West Wales consortium pursues tenders for law firms and barristers
The South West Wales Legal Consortium has this month launched a tender for law firms, and is working on plans for a tender for barristers' chambers in September. The aim is to have framework agreements in place by the end of 2010.
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Kent and Geldards net first client for Law:Public offering
Kent County Council and law firm Geldards have secured a first local authority client for their Law:Public service, after South Derbyshire District Council signed up for the scheme. Law:Public was launched in February this year.
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Law firms could have to reveal gender, ethnic and class background of staff
The Legal Services Board wants law firms to go public with the gender and ethnic make-up of their staff – as well as possibly their social background – as a way of encouraging them to build a diverse workforce, it has emerged.
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South West councils launch tender for support on major projects
A group of councils in Somerset has launched a tender for legal support on a range of major infrastructure projects, including for a new generation of nuclear power stations and changes to National Grid infrastructure.
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Merton and Richmond set in train London's first shared legal service
The London boroughs of Merton and Richmond have approved plans for a trial that could in time lead to the first fully shared legal service in the capital. Merton's head of legal, Helen White, will become interim head at Richmond in August.
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Letting off steam
How can managers help people to feel confident and make them believe that they have the capacity to contribute and develop within their organisations?
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Lambeth and Southwark to set up £10m barristers framework agreement
Southwark and Lambeth councils are set to launch a £10m, four-year inter-boroughs framework agreement aimed at securing "significant reductions" in the cost of barristers’ services.
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Croydon becomes latest to set up framework agreement in £10m tender
Croydon Council has launched a £10m tender for a legal services framework agreement. The tender covers four lots: commercial work, civil and criminal litigation, routine conveyancing and civil debts, and housing and property.
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Joint effort
Four district councils in Leicestershire and Warwickshire are the latest local authorities to launch a joint legal services team, with Hinckley as the hub.
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Largest housing association in south west unveils law firm panel
Plymouth Community Homes - the largest single housing association in the South West - has appointed three firms to a £1m framework agreement for legal services.
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Back to the top
Martin Tucker outlines the leadership skills required if those with a legal background are to get to the top of local government in the twenty-tens.
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Sussex consortium unveils 51-strong panel
The full list of 28 law firms and 22 barristers’ chambers to have been selected – together with Kent County Council Legal Services – for a framework set up by a consortium of local authorities in Sussex has been revealed this week.
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EEDA names four firms to £2m legal services framework
The East of England Development Agency has appointed four firms to its legal services framework, which is estimated to be worth £2m in fees. The successful firms include Dickinson Dees, which does not have a base in the region.
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Councils in Hull and Lincolnshire launch £4m tender for legal services
Three councils in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire have launched a tender for legal services worth in the region of £4m over four years. The consortium members have also opened the framework agreement to other participants.
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Capital ambition
Kent and Essex County Council legal teams have won places on a new 26-strong solicitors panel put together by a consortium of outer London boroughs
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Austerity now
With severe belt-tightening in prospect for the public sector, it makes sense for legal departments to take the initiative before the heavies start battering at the door, writes Nicholas Dobson.
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Councils in Oxfordshire team up to run tender for legal services
A consortium of councils in Oxfordshire has become the latest group of legal departments to team up and procure legal services. The Royal Berkshire Fire Authority has also joined the group.
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Bar Council warns local authorities not to exclude Bar from tenders
The Bar Council chairman has fired off a letter to local authorities warning them not to exclude the Bar from tender exercises for legal services. He took action after a consortium prepared a tender only for solicitors.
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Junior lawyers most difficult to recruit, says London Councils survey
A new survey of London Boroughs by London Councils has found that the capital's legal departments are finding it significantly more difficult to recruit and retain junior and mid-level lawyers than senior legal advisers and managers.
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On the road
Mirza Ahmad outlines the results of the most recent ACSeS Council meeting which considered a new benchmarking regime and research into the relationship between chief executives and chief legal officers
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Trowers makes senior local government hires to expand northern presence
Trowers and Hamlins LLP has recruited Eversheds' partner Mike Mousdale and Gerry Budd, the former County Solicitor at Cheshire County Council, to its Manchester office in an effort to increase its footprint in the north of England.
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SRA publishes handbook for new 'outcomes focused' regime
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has unveiled a draft Handbook that will – subject to consultation – replace the much lengthier Code of Conduct in October 2011.
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Barristers want to conduct litigation and join forces with solicitors
A majority of barristers think they should be able to conduct litigation, according to emerging findings from the Bar Standards Board's survey of the profession revealed by regulation website Legal Futures.
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Norfolk authorities to launch integrated legal service in October 2010
A group of local authorities in Norfolk is to implement a joint legal services team – dubbed Norfolk Legal – that will go live on 1 October. The stakeholders are Norfolk County Council, Norwich City Council and Great Yarmouth Borough Council.
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The state we're in
One of the lessons of previous periods of austerity in local government is that cutting back on training budgets can create long-term skills shortages in local authority legal teams, writes Dudley Lewis.
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ACSeS opts for CIPFA scheme to benchmark legal departments
The Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors has decided to participate in the benchmarking scheme run by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, as it is better understood within local government.
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Advantage West Midlands unveils revamped legal panel
Regional development agency Advantage West Midlands has appointed five law firms to its revised legal panel. A spokeswoman said the contract for legal services was worth £4m a year.
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Going by the book
Cole Porter’s advice to "Brush up your Shakespeare" is sound advice for anyone bearing executive responsibility, writes Nicholas Dobson.
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A guiding hand
We ask Guy Goodman, the chair of the SLG, how the organisation can help its members through what promises to be a turbulent period.
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Devon & Cornwall Constabulary appoints legal panel for buildings and estates
The Devon & Cornwall Constabulary has selected six law firms to handle its buildings and estates work. Some 21 firms applied for the panel and the successful firms included Ashfords, Kitson Hutchings and Tozers.
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More or less
'More for less' may be the current but for legal departments, doing less can improve the profile and perceived value of the team, writes Paul Gilbert
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Law firm FDs predict public sector work will grow in 2010 - but only moderately
Almost half of the top 100 law firms in the UK expect their public sector practice to grow in 2010, according to survey of finance directors conducted by legal publisher Sweet & Maxwell.
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Winckworth Sherwood hires senior lawyers to lead local government expansion
Westminster-based firm Winckworth Sherwood has hired two senior lawyers from LG as part of a drive to expand its local government practice. Simon Randall CBE and Joanna Bussell will join as consultant and partner respectively.
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SRA consults on timeline for implementing outcomes-focused regulation
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has launched a consultation paper on its timetable for the implementation of so-called Outcomes-Focused Regulation. The regulator says the new regime will be "more effective, proportionate and targeted".
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Cambridgeshire authorities sign shared legal service deal
All of Cambridgeshire's district councils have signed an agreement with Cambridgeshire County Council to develop a shared services arrangement, in a deal which also includes the unitary Peterborough City Council.
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Chambers vehicle could be "very effective" for work with authorities: Bar chief
The Bar Council has unveiled a new procurement vehicle that is designed to give chambers greater flexibility to bid for work, with its chairman predicting the structure could be "very effective" for relationships with local authorities.
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Upheaval threatens professional standards, warns new SLG chair
Changes in the local government sector that threaten the ability of its lawyers to work properly to external professional standards and regulation “should and must be resisted”, the incoming chair of the SLG has said.
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South West Wales authorities strike deal for "virtual" shared legal service
Six local authorities in South West Wales have this month agreed to develop a "virtual" shared legal service. The service will lead to closer collaboration through initiatives such as special interest groups, regional training and a forum.
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Gooldens merges with Lincolnshire's Wilkin Chapman
Niche public sector firm Gooldens has merged with Wilkin Chapman, one of the largest firms in Lincolnshire. The combined firm acts for more than 70 local authorities and London boroughs.
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Outgoing SLG chief fires warning over shared services
The chair of Solicitors in Local Government has warned that shared legal services could be a retrograde step for local authority lawyers “if it means that people begin to see the cost of everything and the value of nothing”.
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Show me the money
Mark Hynes offers a personal reflection on how legal teams can make cost savings without damaging the service they provide.
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Cast off the typecast
It is time for local government lawyers to go beyond what's expected and show they can make things happen, writes Nicholas Dobson.
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Yorkshire Forward unveils panels, makes them available to RDAs and councils
Yorkshire Forward has this month launched two legal panels that have been made available to other regional development agencies and 22 councils. Seven law firms have been appointed to the panel covering complex and specialist work.
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Legal Services Board approves 'historic' changes to role of barristers
The LSB has approved the Bar Standards Board's proposals which will allow barristers to work in partnership with each other and solicitors and expand the range of activities that barristers are permitted to undertake.
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MoJ gives green light to new rights of audience qualification for solicitors
The Ministry of Justice has given the go-ahead to the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s new regime for solicitors gaining higher rights of audience, which will see separate awards for criminal and civil advocacy.
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Essex nets "Legal Team of the Year" at LCG Awards 2010
Essex County Council was named "Legal Team of the Year" at the LGC Awards 2010 for its work on the use of well-being powers. The team at Buckinghamshire County Council was also highly commended.
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Natural selection
The decision by Kent and Geldards to launch Law:Public is set to herald a period of rapid change in the provision of legal services to local authorities, writes Philip Hoult.
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Capital Ambition launches guide to sharing professionals
London’s regional improvement and efficiency partnership (RIEP) has published a guide for local authorities on sharing professionals, including lawyers, emphasising the need for proper governance structures to be put in place.
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ACSeS president challenges SRA over PC fee "myth"
The President of the Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors (ACSeS) has attacked the “myth” that changes to practising certificate fees will result in an increased fee burden of 15% on private practice.
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Facing the future
The introduction of Alternative Business Structures next year could revolutionise local government legal departments, writes Philip Hoult.
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Softly does it
Training often focuses on technical skills, but legal teams need to invest in their lawyers’ soft skills if they are really to be valued by clients, writes Geoff Wild.
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Out of the loop
Local government legal departments need a positioning strategy if they are to survive in anything like their present forms, writes Paul Feild.
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Politicians slam the cost of legal advice to the Welsh Assembly
Opposition politicians have sharply criticised the cost of external legal advice to the Welsh Assembly after its external legal bill was revealed to total more than £3.8m in 2008-09 despite the presence of a 100-strong in-house legal team.
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Westminster publishes executive pay - including that of head of legal
Westminster City Council has become one of the first major local authorities to publish details of its executive pay, revealing the council's head of legal post to be the second best remunerated non-director position in the council.
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Local authority lawyer employment T&Cs "should allow part-time judicial role"
The terms and conditions of employment for all employed lawyers, including those working for local authorities, should permit them to carry out a part-time judicial role, the Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity has recommended.
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English Heritage appoints three firms to revamped panel
Shoosmiths, Bircham Dyson Bell and Bond Pearce have been appointed to English Heritage’s new panel. Some 56 firms tendered for a place on the panel, which runs for three years, starting from 1 March 2010
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Kent CC and Geldards in tie-up to provide public sector legal services
The legal team at Kent County Council has linked up with Midlands and Wales-based law firm Geldards to launch a joint legal service for the public sector - Law:Public - which is thought to be the first public-private venture of its type.
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LSB prepares to fire gun on Alternative Business Structures
The Legal Services Board has set the date on which ABSs can start to operate, paving the way for external ownership of legal businesses. Backers will be able to apply for a licence from mid-2011, with a view to operating from 6 October that year.
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Crunching the code
Peter Warner examines how the Lexcel standard enables departments to meet their corporate and professional obligations under the Code of Conduct.
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SRA approves "landmark" PC fee changes
Local government lawyers now have a date from which they can expect to pay significantly reduced practising certificate fees, after the board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority this week approved a new fee regime.
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North-east councils to target barristers as law firm panel is unveiled
A Tyne and Wear-based consortium is looking to collaborate on the instruction of barristers’ after appointing five law firms to a joint legal panel.
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Shout to the top
Lawyers must demand high standards of their bosses, says Roger Taylor. A basic understanding of the legal framework would be a good start.
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EM Lawshare expands law firm panel
EM LawShare, the pioneering consortium of 48 local authorities in the East Midlands, has unveiled a revamped panel of law firms, covering 13 areas of practice, including contract, employment and corporate governance.
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ACSeS and SLG call for further cuts in PC fee
The two main representative groups for local government lawyers have called on the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to go much further in shifting the burden of the costs of regulation onto private practice firms than is currently proposed.
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SRA promises "fundamental" overhaul of solicitor regulation
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has published a strategy paper setting out its plans to radically transform the regulation of solicitors and firms over the next two years.
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Birmingham throws its panel open to all local authorities
Birmingham City Council has invited all the country's local authorities to use its new law firm panels. The council, the largest local authority in the UK, has appointed 16 firms to its 11 panels.
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Back offices targeted by new local government efficiency task force
The move towards shared services and leaner back offices in local authorities gained further momentum this week after the DCLG set up a new task force designed to drive efficiencies and protect frontline services.
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Dealing with demand
The need for childcare lawyers has surged. Finding good candidates in the current market is a real challenge, writes Grania Langdon-Down.
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Chambers join legal diversity survey for first time
Barristers chambers have appeared for the first time in the Diversity League Table produced by the Black Solicitors Network, with just over a third of the 60 chambers approached by the BSN agreeing to take part.
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Public sector cutbacks to hit legal profession more than most: CEBR
The legal profession will be the second hardest hit services industry after research and development as a result of “inevitable” belt tightening in the public sector, a leading economic forecasting organisation has claimed.
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Legal Services Board starts work
The new regulatory regime for the legal profession in England and Wales – brought in under the Legal Services Act – came into force at the start of the year.
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