The Northern Ireland Government is setting up a £23m legal panel, with firms asked to pitch for spots covering corporate, real estate and projects.

The panel will be the Northern Ireland Government’s first centralised legal roster, with firms previously winning mandates including Arthur Cox, A&L Goodbody, Browne Jacobson, Carson McDowell and DWF.

The panel is valued at £23m and will work on matters for over 100 Government departments in Northern Ireland.

The roster will last for three years, with an option to extend for one year.

It has been divided into 14 lots, covering employment, public law, information law and property. Other areas include energy, pensions, corporate and commercial, procurement, prosecution and personal injury.

There are additional lots focused on alternative dispute resolution, debt recovery, venture capital and major projects.

Firms have been asked to pitch for places by early September. The process is being carried out by the Government’s procurement team, the Central Procurement Directorate.

The move to create a centralised roster follows a raft of structural changes to the UK Government’s legal panels.

The Crown Commercial Service carried out a range of reviews, including a specialised £50m rail panel on which Osborne Clarke won its first spot on the roster.

The UK Government’s general legal advisers were announced in March, with over 30 firms being cut from the list. Linklaters was again the only magic circle firm in the roster, with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Allen & Overy both being cut.

Both Freshfields and A&O, however, are expected to win places on the separate finance and regulation panel, which was also separated last year. The roster is valued at £90m and the went out to tender in April.