Legal Panel for Government

All central government and their executive agencies can access a wide range of legal services to support core needs, complex projects, high-risk and innovative initiatives, international trade and investment and specialist rail legal needs.

Description

RM6360 Legal Panel for Government provides a simple route to market for buying a wide range of legal services. It is split across 7 lots:

  • Lot 1 – Core Legal Services
  • Lot 2 – Major Projects and Complex Advice
  • Lot 3 – Finance and High Risk / Innovation
  • Lot 4a – Trade and Investment Negotiations
  • Lot 4b – International Trade Disputes
  • Lot 4c – International Investment Disputes
  • Lot 5 – Rail Legal Services

We developed this agreement in partnership with the Government Legal Department (GLD), Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and Department for Transport (DfT).

It is the default route to market for all central government departments and their executive agencies to buy legal services. It will replace:

  • RM6179 Legal Services, expiring 30 November 2025
  • RM6204 Rail Legal Services, expiring 21 February 2026
  • RM6183 Trade Law Panel, expiring 30 October 2025

You can access over 60 legal specialisms through this agreement, including:

  • contracts
  • corporate finance
  • dispute resolution and litigation
  • employment law
  • high value or complex merger and acquisition activity
  • intellectual property law
  • public procurement law
  • real estate and real estate finance
  • rescue, restructuring and insolvency
  • projects of exceptional innovation and complexity
  • public inquiries and inquests
  • international trade law negotiations, dispute and resolutions
  • rail regulatory law

Suppliers provide legal services under the law of England and Wales. Support may also be available for Scottish law, Northern Irish law and public and private international law, depending on the lot and supplier capability.

Call-off contracts can be of any value or length. If you intend to award a contract lasting more than 4 years, speak to one of our Commercial Managers to get the most value for money from your procurement.

Benefits

  • flexible route to market with the option to award through further competition or direct award
  • discounted rates by lot, with:
    • aggregated spend discounts available 
    • ability to negotiate alternative fee arrangements
    • rate reductions at call off
  • flexible terms and conditions, based on the Public Sector Contract
  •  innovative legal solutions to reduce costs and improve efficiency
  • access to value added benefits such as:
    • secondments
    • exchange schemes
    • training 
    • meeting and event space 
    • strategic support
  • robust agreement management with us and GLD, monitoring supplier quality, performance and value for money
  • up to 2 hours of free legal consultation at the beginning of each contract

Products and suppliers

There are 30 suppliers on this agreement

Lot 1: Core Legal Services

Expires:

12 suppliers

Lot 2: Major Projects and Complex Advice

Expires:

10 suppliers

Lot 3: Finance and High Risk / Innovation

Expires:

7 suppliers

Lot 4a: Trade and Investment Negotiations

Expires:

6 suppliers

Lot 4b: International Trade Disputes

Expires:

6 suppliers

Lot 4c: International Investment Disputes

Expires:

8 suppliers

Lot 5: Rail Legal Services

Expires:

8 suppliers

How to buy

Before using this agreement you need to read our buyer guide. It will help you to select the right award procedure for your needs. You can also select suppliers capable of meeting your needs by using the digital tool. 

You can buy services under this agreement in two ways:

  • further competition
  • direct award

Before running a further competition or direct award, you have to complete Framework Schedule 6: 

  • order form templates 
  • call-off schedules

Framework Schedule 6 is the only template  you have to complete as part of your call-off procedure. You can use your own internal tender documents as part of your bid pack.

You can also use your own internal eSourcing system to run your further competition or direct award  or you can use our eSourcing tool. If this is your first time using our eSourcing suite, you will need to register an account.

If you have already registered, sign in to your eSourcing account.

Check your own internal policies and processes to make sure they follow your standard operating procedures.

Further competition 

To award a call-off contract through further competition you should:

  1. Write a clear specification that defines your needs. 
  2. Shortlist the number of suppliers you want to invite to bid, you can use our digital tool to do this. 
  3. Use Framework Schedule 6 order form template and call-off schedules as the basis of your call-off contract. 
    1. Refine your contract deliverables, including liability caps.
  4. Develop your further competition award criteria, including the intended pricing mechanism.
    1. This will form the basis of your decision to award your call-off contract.
  5. Invite all identified suppliers to submit a tender in writing by publishing your tender documents in line with  Public Contract Regulations. 
    1. This can be by email or through your preferred e-Sourcing tool. 
    2. Contact details for each supplier representative can be found in the RM6360 supplier contacts document.
  6. Set a deadline for the submission of tenders. Allow enough time based on how complex your needs are.
  7. Keep all tenders confidential until the deadline has passed.
  8. Apply your published award criteria to each submitted tender.
  9. Award your call-off contract by sending the following to the successful supplier:
    1. a completed and signed Framework schedule 6.
    2. a completed and signed order form.
    3. suppliers should promptly sign and return this document. 
  10. Provide unsuccessful suppliers with written feedback. 
  11.  Publish your contract on Contracts Finder.

Direct award 

To direct award under this agreement you should:

  1. Write a clear specification that defines your needs.
  2. Determine which suppliers are capable of meeting your needs by using the digital tool and/or applying your direct award criteria to the prospectuses for each supplier to establish which supplier provides the best solution for your needs. 
  3. Contact the supplier that you have selected and provide them with your specification so that they can:
    • complete their conflict of interest checks 
    • confirm that they have the relevant capability and capacity
  4. If you want  the work to be done under a different fee arrangement, ask for a fee quote.
  5. Award the call-off contract with the supplier by sending a completed and signed framework schedule order form template and call-off schedules.
    • suppliers should promptly sign and return and this can be done electronically

Agreement pricing 

Pricing for all suppliers and lots, together with information on supplier capability, jurisdictional cover and links to prospectuses, can be found in our digital tool.

Documents