Balfour Beatty to sign deal with Pinsents as part of cost-cutting drive
Pinsent Masons is on the brink of signing a deal with Balfour Beatty that will see it become the sole legal provider for at least some areas of its external needs.
Chris Vaughan
The move comes a few months after The Lawyer reported that the construction company was looking for innovative ways to cut its law firm bill.
According to sources close to the business, Pinsent Masons and Balfour Beatty are due to sign a deal within the next couple of weeks. It is understood that a number of firms were vying for the contract. Previous firms that have worked with Balfour Beatty include Berwin Leighton Paisner and Eversheds.
Exact details about the deal itself are not yet clear. Balfour Beatty global general counsel Chris Vaughan declined to comment, as did Pinsent Masons. A spokesperson for the firm said: “We have no comment to make at this time.”
However, The Lawyer reported in November (7 November 2012) that Balfour Beatty was looking to cut external legal spend by outsourcing low-value work, such as employment, construction and property contracts.
At the time the company said it was looking to save up to a third of its external legal spend by packaging certain areas of work and tendering it out to the lowest bidder.
