Procurement
In the last few years public procurement law has become a mainstream area of legal practice. At one time it was regarded as a highly specialised type of non-contentious work, handled by transactional lawyers, but public procurement work has now expanded into an important and flourishing area of litigation. Procurement law combines an unusual skill set requiring expertise in public law, European Community law and contractual principles. Thirty Nine Essex Street with its unique strengths in public, commercial, construction and EU law has the relevant know-how on procurement issues, such as public procurement, the private finance initiative and public-private partnership.
Significant cases include:
- Advising a foreign government department as to whether a contract was formed during the tender process of a multi million pound construction project
- Advising on and acting in relation to the procurement issues associated with the 2012 Olympics
- Advising on a £0.5bn city centre reconstruction PFI project
- Advising on and acting in relation the procurement issues in relation to the provision (under a Framework Agreement) of IT and management services for local authorities across SW England
- Advising on and acting in relation to the procurement issues in relation to the managing and decommissioning of nuclear facilities
- R (Law Society) v Legal Services Commission and Secretary of State for Justice (CA) [2008] 2 WLR 803