Clifford Chance out in the cold as Australian government revamps panel
The Australian government has established a whole-of-government legal roster that features the Australian arm or alliance firm of all the UK firms present in the country except Clifford Chance.
The Legal Services Multi-Use List (LSMUL) features 68 firms in total, a significant reduction on the 152 used by all government agencies under previous arrangements in the 2010-11 financial year.
The LSMUL is made up of firms that have been pre-approved to provide legal services to agencies across four broad categories of legal work: corporate and commercial; dispute resolution and litigation; government and administrative law; and all other legal services.
The establishment of the LSMUL, which goes live today, is part of a series of reforms carried out by the Attorney General’s Department of Australia to enhance the delivery and strategic management of legal services to the Commonwealth.
Attorney general Nicola Roxon said that all Australian government agencies will use the roster to purchase legal services, cutting red tape and driving cost efficiencies.
According to the government’s 2010-11 Legal Services Expenditure Report, a total of 161 agencies spent A$676.6m (£425.8m) ion legal services. Of that, A$281.6m was paid to 152 legal services providers, with the top 10 firms receiving approximately 89 per cent of the total. In the previous financial year, A$255m was paid to 291 legal services providers.
Clayton Utz, Blake Dawson (now Ashurst), DLA Piper, Minter Ellison, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Minter Ellison and Mallesons Stephen Jaques (now King & Wood Mallesons) were among the top 10 in the past three years.
Firms that are not on the list this time will be able to submit an application for inclusion at any time. However, assessment will only be undertaken twice each year. The next cut-off date for applications is 4 September 2012.
The performance of the LSMUL firms will be monitored closely under a performance management framework. Agencies will be required to report on services provider performance information against key criteria including quality, accuracy, responsiveness, understanding of agency needs, professionalism and experience of staff working on matter, and value for money.
The full roster is:
Category of legal work: Government and Administrative Law
1. Allens Arthur Robinson 2. Ashurst 3. Australian Government Solicitor 4. Baker & McKenzie 5. Bartier Perry 6. Clayton Utz 7. Corrs Chambers Westgarth 8. Curwoods Lawyers 9. DibbsBarker 10. DibbsBarker Canberra 11. DLA Piper 12. Eakin McCaffery Cox 13. Freehills 14. Gadens Lawyers Melbourne 15. Gilbert + Tobin 16. Harmers Workplace Laywers 17. Henry Davis York 18. Hicksons 19. Holding Redlich 20. Hunt & Hunt 21. HWL Ebsworth | 22. Jackson McDonald 23. Johnson Winter & Slattery 24. King & Wood Mallesons 25. Lander & Rogers 26. Maddocks 27. McInnes Wilson Lawyers Pty Ltd 28. Meridian Lawyers Limited 29. Middletons 30. Minter Ellison Lawyers 31. Moray & Agnew Lawyers 32. Norton Rose Australia 33. Proximity Advisory Services Pty Ltd t/as Proximity Legal 34. Russel Kennedy 35. Sparke Helmore 36. Thomsons Lawyers 37. TressCox Lawyers 38. Williams Love & Nicol Lawyers |
Category of legal work: Corporate and Commercial Law
1. Aitken Partners Pty Ltd 2. Allen & Overy 3. Allens Arthur Robinson 4. Ashurst 5. Australian Government Solicitor 6. Baker & McKenzie 7. Banki Haddock Fiora 8. Bartier Perry 9. Bennet & Philp Lawyers 10. Brown Wright Stein Lawyers 11. Corrs Chambers Westgarth 12. Clayton Utz 13. Craddock Murray Neumann 14. Cridlands MB 15. Curwoods Lawyers 16. Dibbs Barker 17. Dibbs Barker Canberra 18. DLA Piper 19. DLAW Pty Ltd as Trustee for the DL Trust t/as Doyles Construction Lawyers 20. Eakin McCaffery Cox 21. Forgan Lawyers t/as Hunt & Hunt 22. Fox Tucker Lawyers 23. Francis Abourizk Lightowlers 24. Freehills 25. Gadens Lawyers Brisbane 26. Gadens Lawyers Melbourne 27. Gilbert & Tobin 28. Griffith Hack | 29. Henry Davis York 30. Hicksons 31. Holding Redlich 32. Hunt & Hunt 33. HWL Ebsworth 34. Hynes Lawyers 35. Jackson McDonald 36. Johnson Winter & Slattery 37. Kennedys (Australasia) Pty Ltd t/as Kennedys 38. King & Wood Mallesons 39. Lander & Rogers 40. LLSJ Pty Ltd t/as Lawson Smith 41. Maddocks 42. McInnes Wilson Lawyers 43. Middletons 44. Minter Ellison Lawyers 45. Moray & Agnew 46. MSP Legal 47. Norton Rose Australia 48. O’Loughlins Lawyers 49. Proximity Advisory Services Pty Ltd t/as Proximity Legal 50. Russell Kennedy Pty Ltd 51. Sage Legal Services P/L 52. Simpsons Solicitors Pty Ltd 53. Sparke Helmore 54. SRB Legal 55. TressCox Lawyers 56. Williams Love & Nicol Lawyers |
Category of legal work: Dispute Resolution and Litigation
1. Aitken Partners Pty Ltd 2. Allens Arthur Robinson 3. Ally Group Pty Ltd t/as Allygroup 4. Ashurst 5. Australian Government Solicitor 6. Baker & McKenzie 7. Banki Haddock Fiora 8. Bartier Perry 9. Bennett & Philp Lawyers 10. Clayton Utz 11. Corrs Chambers Westgarth 12. Craddock Murray Neumann 13. Curwoods Lawyers 14. DibbsBarker 15. DibbsBarker Canberra 16. DLA Piper 17. DLAW Pty Ltd as Trustee for the DL Trust t/as Doyles Construction Lawyers 18. Eakin McCaffery Cox 19. Forgan Laywers t/as Hunt & Hunt 20. Fox Tucker Lawyers 21. Freehills 22. Gadens Laywers Brisbane 23. Gadens Lawyers Melbourne 24. Gilbert + Tobin 25. Griffith Hack 26. Harmers Workplace Lawyers 27. Henry Davis York 28. Herbert Geer 29. Hicksons 30. Holding Redlich 31. Hunt & Hunt | 32. HWL Ebsworth 33. Hynes Lawyers 34. Jackson McDonald 35. Johnson Winter & Slattery 36. Kelly Hazell Quill Pty Ltd t/as Kelly Hazell Quill Lawyers 37. Kennedys 38. King & Wood Mallesons 39. Lander & Rogers 40. Littles Lawyers Pty Ltd t/as Littles Lawyers 41. LLSJ Pty Ltd t/as Lawson Smith 42. Lobban McNally Lawyers 43. Maddocks 44. Maurice Blackburn 45. McInnes Wilson Lawyers 46. Meridian Lawyers Limited 47. Meyer Vandenberg Lawyers 48. Middletons 49. Minter Ellison Lawyers 50. Moray & Agnew Lawyers 51. MSP Legal Pty Ltd t/as MSP Legal 52. Norton Rose Australia 53. O’Loughlins Lawyers 54. Proximity Advisory Services Pty Ltd t/as Proximity Legal 55. Russel Kennedy Pty Ltd 56. Sparke Helmore 57. SRB Legal 58. Thomsons Lawyers 59. TressCox Lawyers 60. Williams Love & Nicol |
Category of legal work: All Other Legal Services
1. Ashurst
2. Australian Government Solicitor
3. Clayton Utz
4. DLA Piper
5. Hunt & Hunt
6. HWL Ebsworth Lawyers
7. Kennedys (Australasia) Pty Ltd t/as Kennedys
8. Lander & Rogers
9. Minter Ellison
10. Sparke Helmore
Readers' comments (2)
Lawyers Australia | 2-Jun-2012 7:49 am
Find the best lawyers in Australia by visiting www.lawyersaustralia.com
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Curious | 2-Jun-2012 2:02 pm
Any hypothesis as to why CC was left out?
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment