The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) is looking to put together its first legal panel, with the move coming shortly after the arrival of its first general counsel.
Simon Rajgopaul, the society’s sole legal counsel, is in the process of inviting firms to tender for the chance to provide legal services covering a range of sectors, including competition and employment law.
It is not yet known how many places are up for grabs on the panel, but Rajgopaul expects to have the process completed by the end of the year.
Rajgopaul, who was an IP associate at Field Fisher Waterhouse, has been at the RPS on a permanent basis since October 2010.
Prior to that he was on secondment at the society and its forerunner, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB), since May 2009.
The RPS, which supports the pharmaceutical profession in England, Scotland and Wales, and publishes textbooks and journals, was created in September 2010 when the RPSGB was split up, with regulatory functions spun off into the General Pharmaceutical Council.
Since the demerger the bulk of the society’s legal issues have been handled in-house.
