North West Legal Consortium appoints 18 firms to £10m solicitors panels

Procurement iStock 000002542569XSmall 146x219The North West Legal Consortium of local authorities and other public bodies has named 18 law firms to its re-let £10m solicitors panels, with Geldards and Hill Dickinson joining the small group of practices with 'partner' status.

The procurement exercise was run for the NWLC by Sefton Council as lead contracting authority.

The four-year framework was broken down into the following lots:

  • Lot 1 — Civil Litigation, Prosecutions and Regulatory: "to include construction litigation, negligence proceedings, possession proceedings licensing appeals and employment advice and litigation".
  • Lot 2 — Property, Planning and Environment: "to include all conveyancing, regeneration and highways advice".
  • Lot 3 — Corporate Governance, Ethical Standards and Information Law: "to include organisational governance issues data protection advice including advice on use of social media by council/councillors or third parties involving the council/ council officers".
  • Lot 4 — Projects, Procurement and Commercial: "to include all commercial contracts and company law".
  • Lot 5 — Adult Social Care and Education.

The framework was awarded on the basis of the most economically advantageous tender in terms of quality/ professional ability (weighting 70) and price (weighting 30).

The successful firms were:

  • Addleshaw Goddard (Lots 1, 4);
  • Anthony Collins Solicitors (3, 5);
  • Ashfords (1);
  • Bevan Brittan (3, 5);
  • Blake Morgan (4);
  • Brabners (2);
  • Brown Turner Ross (1);
  • Browne Jacobson (5);
  • DAC Beachcroft (2, 3, 4);
  • DLA Piper (2);
  • Forbes Solicitors (4);
  • Freeths (2);
  • Geldards (1, 3, 4);
  • Hill Dickinson (1, 3, 5);
  • Sharpe Pritchard (4);
  • TLT (2);
  • Trowers & Hamlins (2);
  • Weightmans (1, 3, 5).

The firms awarded partner status were: DAC Beachcroft, Geldards (new), Hill Dickinson (new), and Weightmans.

The procurement was undertaken in accordance with Section 7 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, also know as the ‘Light Touch’ regime under the EU Procurement Directives.

The NWLC has 43 member bodies including local authorities, offices of police and crime commissioners, Merseytravel and the Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority.