Associated British Ports settles on its favourites

Work was previously outsourced by individual officials at the 21 ports owned and managed by ABP, a process in line with the company's policy of decentralisation, but this was deemed highly inefficient.

The biggest winners of the review have been Andrew M Jackson, Bond Pearce and Morgan Cole. CMS Cameron McKenna, Norton Rose, Simmons & Simmons, Slaughter and May, Taylor Wessing and Winckworth Sherwood have also secured advisory roles.

ABP did not have an in-house lawyer until four years before Walsh's arrival from British Airways, where he was legal director, in March 2002, but Walsh was the first to review the outsourcing arrangements.

Walsh said the firms are under constant review and that in a perfect world he would use a single firm for all matters.