UK supermarket and retailer Sainsbury’s Group has appointed eleven firms to its new legal panel, including Linklaters, Addleshaw Goddard, Dentonsand CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Oslwang.
The other firms on the roster are TLT, Cleaver Fulton Rankin, Lewis Silkin, Winckworth Sherwood, BLM, Mason Hayes Curran and Shepherd & Wedderburn.
The panel, which was last reviewed in 2014, previously included Bond Dickinson, Croner, King & Wood Mallesons, DWF and Gowling WLG.
The legal panel, known internally as the ‘Sainsbury’s Legal Community’, will cover jurisdictions in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland – which is a new jurisdiction following the Group’s acquisition of Argos. The panel is typically reviewed every three years.
In a press statement, Nick Grant, head of group legal services for Sainsburys said: ‘As we continue to integrate Argos with Sainsbury’s we’ve selected a panel that provides the right combination of experience and fresh thinking.’
He said the firms were chosen to ensure that the Sainsbury’s Group obtained the legal support for the range of markets and jurisdictions in which it now operated.
Grant created the Sainsbury’s Legal Community in 2011, which involves multiple firms collaborating to provide advice. The change allowed the in-house team to present its objectives more openly and let firms that are stronger in certain areas collaborate to produce better advice.
Recent completed panels include HSBC, which appointed around ten firms to its UK legal banking panel. Addleshaw Goddard, Eversheds Sutherland and Simmons & Simmons were among those which made the cut.
CMS, Dentons and Pinsent Masons are also among the roster which was reduced in size.