Morton Fraser has picked up four places on Edinburgh City Council’s £3.1m panel, being appointed alongside larger firms such as Pinsent Masons and CMS Cameron McKenna.
A review of the panel, which is also available to Stirling Council and West Lothian Council, was launched in August this year, led by the council’s head of legal and risk Carol Campbell with interim legal manager Kevin McKee. The contracts awarded are all for two year periods which can be extended for a further two years.
Morton Fraser, which has worked with the council for five years took the most spots including on the council’s general commercial panel, property, litigation and employment lots. The firm has a strong public sector focus and boasts more than 80 specialists.
Brodies, Harper Macleod, MacRoberts, and Shepherd & Wedderburn join Morton Fraser on the panel with the biggest budget, the general commercial panel, which the council expects to spend between £920,000 and £1,060,000 on.
Morton Fraser has also been appointed to the council’s property & planning panel, on which it spends between £530,000 and £610,000. Brodies also made the property panel, alongside Anderson Stratheren and Burness Paul.
The council’s employment panel comprises Harper Macleod, Morton Fraser, Anderson Strathen, MacRoberts and BTO Solicitors. Clyde & Co, trading through its new merger partner Simpson & Marwick, also made the cut. The litigation panel comprises Anderson Strathen, Morton Fraser and TC Young Solicitors.
The final panel, dubbed the ‘major projects’ lot includes CMS Cameron McKenna, Shepherd & Wedderburn and Pinsent Masons.
Morton Fraser partner Rory Alexander said: ‘The win is also our third from three public sector opportunities that we have tendered for in recent months, which is testament to the strength of our public sector team. We are trusted to provide best value and clarity in difficult circumstances and we are seeing a sustained period of growth for the firm as a result.’
victoria.young@legalease.co.uk