Kemp Little, Dechert and Pinsents all bag Rubicon instructions

Traditionally, DLA has been the company's principal firm, but Jonathan Beak, Rubicon's group director of corporate and legal affairs, has taken the first step in developing relationships with a mixture of firms for advice on different issues.

Although Beak is happy with the service provided by DLA, in his view it is prudent for an in-house legal department to have a choice of firms to choose from when it farms work out to external lawyers.

"DLA have done an excellent job for us, there's absolutely no question about that," emphasises Beak. "But I think even they would doubt the wisdom of putting all your legal eggs into one basket. They're not always going to be the right firm."

Pinsents and Dechert have been instructed to advise on regulatory and employment matters respectively. Meanwhile, Kemp Little's mandate is for intellectual property work. Additionally, Beak said that he would consider Kemp Little and Pinsents for transactional work, which he usually farms out to external lawyers.