Oil giant to launch first review of UK advisers in three years

BP is set to launch a review of its UK panel of external legal advisers for the first time in three years.

The British oil giant plans to kick off the process at the end of this month, with firms on the roster already alerted, although formal requests for proposals have not yet been sent out.

Group general counsel Rupert Bondy is formally overseeing the process, with the new line-up expected to come into effect in spring 2011 for a three-year term.

BP last overhauled its panel in spring 2008, when Linklaters, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Herbert Smith, CMS Cameron McKenna, McGrigors, Field Fisher Waterhouse and Wragge & Co were all appointed.

Linklaters has traditionally been BP's longstanding UK adviser but the oil company has been extending its relationships with a number of firms, with Simmons & Simmons and Baker & McKenzie also among those working with the company in the past.

The review could also present an opportunity for Allen & Overy (A&O), which hired Herbert Smith's BP relationship partner Paul Griffin earlier this year. A&O has worked with BP in the past but has not been on its formal UK panel in recent years.

BP internationally has strong relationships with a number of US firms, including Sullivan & Cromwell and Kirkland & Ellis, which have both won major instructions for the company in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill earlier this year.

Kirkland has advised BP alongside US rival Arnold & Porter on the multibillion-dollar litigation claims following the disaster.

Meanwhile, UK firms winning significant instructions as BP moved to fund claims stemming from the spill include Linklaters and Camerons, with Freshfields instructed to advise BP as it avoided unwanted takeover attempts.

Commenting on the panel, one City partner said: "BP's legal spend will be significant and it's worth noting that there will be additional work in light of the Gulf of Mexico incident. However, it is also worth bearing in mind that BP has a very high-calibre in-house legal team with capacity to do a lot of its own advisory work."

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