Mills & Reeve has won a competitive tender to advise the University of Leicester on all of its legal matters.

The firm, which advises around 70 of the UK's universities and higher education establishments, won the three-year contract last month after beating off opposition from eight other firms.

The firm started advising the university at the beginning of June. The other firms that took part in the tender included Martineau Johnson, Eversheds, Pinsent Curtis Biddle and a number of local firms.

Mills & Reeve is understood to have replaced a local firm as exclusive adviser. "We think that we have the largest share of the higher education market," said head of Mills & Reeve's education group, Gary Attle.

"We will be advising the university on all legal matters, including intellectual property, employment, student affairs and property transactions," he added.
Attle said the fact that the firm had an NHS practice helped Mills & Reeve to win the tender as Leicester runs a joint undergraduate medical programme with the University of Warwick.

This is the fourth major higher education client that the firm has won during the past 12 months.
In May 2001 Mills & Reeve picked up the London School of Economics and Political Science as a client.

In November the firm won Nottingham University and in December London's St George's Hospital Medical School was signed up as a client.