Welcome to the Public Law Today/Local Government Lawyer Marketplace Portal.

Here you can find the full range of services that public law departments and lawyers need. For departments, this page provides a directory of specialist legal advisers - including local authority legal departments that provide external services - expert witnesses, consultants, training courses, technology providers and much else besides.

MARKET NEWS Jan 19, 2021 Law firm teams up with CommercialGov to deliver governance for commercial activity masterclass for LGA Jan 12, 2021 Backing for Law Society Council governance reforms sees local government representation halved Dec 03, 2020 Council legal team wins LawWorks Pro Bono Award Dec 02, 2020 Local authority legal team shortlisted in two categories for LawWorks pro bono awards Nov 25, 2020 Council to consider plan to delete Director for Governance and Regulatory Services post Nov 09, 2020 Voting in the Law Society membership ballot	TENDERS AND INSTRUCTIONS Jan 14, 2021 Consortium of Scottish economic development agencies names four firms to £8.7m legal services framework Jan 13, 2021 Trowers advises social landlord on selection of JV partner for major Tower Hamlets regeneration Jan 12, 2021 Social landlord names four firms to £1m panel for legal advice on complex matters Jan 06, 2021 Twenty law firms make it on to £60m Welsh public sector legal services framework Jan 04, 2021 Law firm given £240k contract to advise new body for protection of rights of EU and other citizens Jan 04, 2021 North Wales social landlord names council and eight law firms to legal services framework
PEOPLE Jan 19, 2021 Legally-qualified chief executive to step down after 17 years at helm of London borough Jan 13, 2021 Plexus Law names Steel as Head of Public Sector Services Dec 18, 2020 Barristers acting for local authorities and other public bodies recognised in 2020 silk round Dec 14, 2020 Weightmans bolsters social housing team with hire of governance specialist Dec 07, 2020 Public law children barrister at county council switches to 3PB in Birmingham Nov 23, 2020 Sharpe Pritchard promotes projects and procurement specialist to partner	TECHNOLOGY Jan 06, 2021 Borough council to adopt Lexis Visualfiles case management system Oct 02, 2020 City council to procure case management system in £240k, five to ten-year deal Aug 14, 2020 Thomson Reuters acquires document bundling platform CaseLines Feb 12, 2020 Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal implements CaseLines platform as part of digital transformation Jan 30, 2020 City council to hold soft market testing exercise for potential new case management system Nov 12, 2019 Government awards £2m in funding for technology firm to support digital transformation of legal sector
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS Virtual Training – why didn’t we think of it earlier!? Member development trainer Bethan Evans relives her experiences of switching from face-to-face to online training during lockdown and looks at how they may affect the physical/virtual divide post-pandemic. Striking out in a new direction: Setting up an ABS What does it take to set up a legal services alternative business structure? Hilary Irving of North Yorkshire County Council outlines the risks and rewards. The Company Sec in local government As commercialisation grows, Azhar Ghose outlines the increasing importance of the Company Secretary role within local authorities and offers some tips on how it can be performed. One size does not fit all Offering a one-size-fits-all approach will inevitably undermine the relationships we have with our clients, writes Geoff Wild. Personal philosophies Chris Guy, a former local authority head of legal, sets out how he tried to overcome his weaknesses. Aiming for the top How should you go about securing the position of head of legal at a local authority? Chris Guy shares some thoughts. Understanding the objectives of clients What will make your clients relish the opportunity to work with you again: content or delivery? Geoff Wild considers the issues. Professionalism or mucking in? “Perception is reality, but it’s the clients' perceptions that we have to address, not our own” - Read Geoff Wild's latest blog. Ever decreasing circles Gwendoline Davies, Andrew Northage and Robert Starr analyse the latest case to further limit legal professional privilege. Service standards or service excellence? Service standards could have the effect of lowering expectations of excellence when we should be raising them instead, writes Geoff Wild. Brand values or independent thought? Does having a proper regard for ensuring the right degree of independence make you appear aloof, arrogant and uncaring? Geoff Wild reports. Challenge your perspectives … In the first in a series of articles, Geoff Wild considers how clients assess their lawyers. Better than ever Jayne Francis-Ward, head of EMLawShare, sets out the highlights from the legal services consortium's fifth conference. Helping to define the client With Lawyers in Local Government calling for clarification of who local authority solicitors can act for, Crispin Passmore sets out the Solicitors Regulation Authority's view. Selling your services Iain Miller deals with the question of what is permissible under the SRA's Handbook and the Legal Services Act 2007 for those local authorities looking to sell their services more widely. Lead or follow? The number of in-house counsel in the private sector has boomed as the general counsel role has grown in importance. Paul Cummins looks at the lessons for local government lawyers. Dancing with the devil? Tanya Corsie of Iken Business explains why you should be using technology to improve your service. Improving internal efficiency The LexisPSL Local Government team provide a checklist for a continuous improvement model in the context of contemplating the delivery of shared legal services. The shape of things to come Derek Bedlow looks at the implications of the Legal Department of the Future survey for how legal departments organise, recruit and retain their staff. A short guide to shared legal services The LexisPSL Local Government team explain the background to and advantages and disadvantages of shared legal services in achieving improved cost efficiency within the public sector. Can’t get no satisfaction? What effect have the cuts had on local government lawyers’ ambitions and morale? Derek Bedlow looks at the results of our exclusive survey of more than 300 local government lawyers and assesses the implications for local authority legal teams.