Veale Wasbrough scoops place on the Treasury Solicitor's commercial panel

The firm will be advising on six of the nine work areas for which the panel has been appointed - PFI/ projects, employment and pensions, corporate and finance, IT, planning and competition.

Veale Wasbrough has a longstanding public sector focus. The 22-strong team is headed by Simon Baker and clients include the Ministry of Defence, the National Assembly for Wales, the Department of Transport and the Fire Service College.

Managing partner Simon Pizzey said: "Public sector is a strong sector for us and one that we're very committed to. It means having a good understanding of the workings of the sector at a local and national level. There was stiff competition to obtain a place on this panel and the appointment confirms our position as one of the leading public sector law firms in the country. We're the only Bristol firm on the panel and we've been appointed for six key areas of work. That's a fantastic result and a real credit to the quality of our work and the depth and breadth of expertise of our lawyers."

Head of procurement and commercial contracts at the Treasury Solicitor's Department David Gollancz has expanded the existing three-firm panel of Denton Wilde Sapte, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Simmons & Simmons to 18 firms in total.

The new firms are: Beachcroft Wansbroughs, Crutes, Davitt Jones Bould, DLA, Eversheds, Field Fisher Waterhouse, Irwin Mitchell, Mace & Jones, Masons, McGrigor Donald, Mills & Reeve, Michelmores, Pinsent Curtis Biddle, Semple Fraser, Sharpe Pritchard, Trowers & Hamlins, Veale Wasbrough and White and Bowker.

This is the second significant public sector panel success for Veale Wasbrough recently, following its appointment to the 12-firm Ministry of Defence panel for public-private partnerships earlier this year.

That review saw Herbert Smith, Berwin Leighton Paisner and Pinsent Curtis Biddle all lose their places on the panel after a lengthy review process.