British government cuts spend on external legal advisors by 36%

An account of the British government’s spending on legal services has shown a drop in the amount spent on external advisers, which was a third less than last year. The figures were released by the Government Procurement Service after a Freedom of Information Act request from Legal Week. They show that the panel paid £28.8m to its roster of 48-firm roster during 2010-11, 36% down on the record figure of £44.8m spent during the previous year. Experts attribute the drop to austerity measures that have forced public bodies to reduce costs – looking for good value and pushing firms to reduce fees – and note that a number of large projects were cancelled last year. Pinsent Masons was the top-billing firm on the panel, taking in total fees of £5.7m, while Field Fisher Waterhouse billed £3.8m, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer billed £3.2m, Eversheds billed £2.5m and SNR Denton billed £2.3m.

British government cuts spend on external legal advisors by 36% legalweek.com Sun, Jan 29, 2012