Eversheds Sutherland takes key Thames Water managed legal services role from BLP
Both firms win spots on major projects panel alongside HSF, CMS and Pinsents
December 20, 2017 at 07:31 AM
3 minute read
Eversheds Sutherland has won a five-year contract to provide day-to-day legal work for Thames Water, taking over the managed legal services role held by Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP).
Both firms have also been appointed to a new five-firm major projects panel alongside CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) and Pinsent Masons.
Eversheds' five-year managed legal services contract - secured after what Thames described as "a thorough and highly competitive tender process" – will start on 1 April next year, with the option to extend for a further three years.
The managed legal services role has been held by BLP since 2010, when an unconventional deal was struck which saw a Thames Water in-house legal team transfer from the company to become employees of the City law firm.
That 20-strong team will now be "insourced" to Eversheds Sutherland's offices after a three-month transition period.
The team will support Thames Water legal head Sarah Sear and the wider business on a range of day-to-day legal matters including competition, projects and planning, regulation, construction, real estate, commercial contracts, tax, disputes, energy, employment and health and safety.
Both BLP and Eversheds will now compete with fellow panel firms CMS, HSF and Pinsents for major projects work, which is distinct from the managed legal services arrangement.
Sear said: "Our managed legal services model has worked very well since we launched it in 2010 and, after a rigorous tender process, we are delighted to appoint Eversheds Sutherland as our new legal services provider for the next five years."
London public law firm Sharpe Pritchard advised Thames on the tender process.
Eversheds Sutherland CEO Lee Ranson added: "Securing work of this size and complexity has been one of the highlights of our year. We were able to demonstrate to Thames the difference in our innovative and creative approach to managing complex, high value legal services for our clients, such as our client relationships with IATA, Tyco and Turkish Airlines."
BLP's relationship with Thames Water, which is understood to have been worth around £5m a year to the firm, was renewed in 2014.
In a statement, the firm said: "BLP have been delighted to work with Thames over the past eight years as their main legal services provider under the ground-breaking managed legal service partnership. We look forward to continuing to support Thames as part of their specialist panel for major projects outside the scope of the managed legal service. BLP will not be making any further comments on what is a confidential client arrangement."
BLP's managed legal service division was launched when the Thames Water deal began in 2010. While the firm has come close to securing deals with Yorkshire Water and Colt Technology Services, the Thames Water deal is currently the division's only mandate.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
New Frontiers: Gaillard Banifatemi Shelbaya Launches in Cairo and Abu Dhabi
4 minute read
Travers Gives Holiday Bonus, Ropes & Gray Reduces Time Off Allowance
1 minute read
Japan’s Mori Hamada Joins Funder LCM for $150M Credit Suisse Bonds Claim
Trending Stories
- 1Gibson Dunn Sued By Crypto Client After Lateral Hire Causes Conflict of Interest
- 2Trump's Solicitor General Expected to 'Flip' Prelogar's Positions at Supreme Court
- 3Pharmacy Lawyers See Promise in NY Regulator's Curbs on PBM Industry
- 4Outgoing USPTO Director Kathi Vidal: ‘We All Want the Country to Be in a Better Place’
- 5Supreme Court Will Review Constitutionality Of FCC's Universal Service Fund
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
