Co-op Bank set to slim down legal panel in first review of inaugural roster
Firms appointed to first-ever panel in 2015 under the spotlight as bank aims to reduce roster
July 20, 2018 at 08:12 AM
3 minute read
The Co-operative Bank is preparing to review its legal panel, three years after it put together a formal roster of advisers for the first time.
The bank has written to the firms on its current panel, as well as several others, to inform them that a review is due to kick off shortly.
The bank is aiming to slim down the line-up, after appointing 11 firms to its first-ever panel in 2015, when Clifford Chance (CC), Allen & Overy, Eversheds, DLA Piper, Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), Mishcon de Reya, Bates Wells Braithwaite, Hogan Lovells, Pinsent Masons, TLT and Matthew Arnold & Baldwin were all handed three-year terms running to this September.
Since 2015, BLP has merged with US firm Bryan Cave to form Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, while Matthew Arnold & Baldwin has closed after being carved up by Dentons, Hill Dickinson and Veale Wasbrough Vizards.
The bank has already chosen which of its current advisers will be invited to pitch, with requests for proposal due to be sent out within the next fortnight.
The establishment of the panel in 2015 marked the first time the bank had put together its own set of firms since its split from the wider Co-operative Group in 2013.
Co-op Bank head of litigation Jonathan Bell told Legal Week: "We set up our first full-service legal panel in 2015 and, following three successful years, we are now starting a formal review process. While we will continue with a panel of full-service firms, we are aiming to reduce the number of firms to better meet our needs in the future."
As well as slimming the panel, the bank is considering incorporating its volume repossession work into the main legal panel for the first time. Currently, that work is handled by a separate group of firms.
The Co-op Bank's legal function is now led by general counsel David Bagley who last October succeeded Brona McKeown, who left to join British Land as GC and company secretary.
McKeown's departure came shortly after the bank lined up a £700m rescue package of capital from hedge funds and other investors after a failed effort to find a buyer. CC advised the bank on the rescue deal.
The bank also this week appointed a new chief executive, with former Lloyds Commercial Banking chief Andrew Bester replacing Liam Coleman.
Earlier this year, the Co-op Group selected seven law firms for its newly restructured legal panel, with Fieldfisher and Squire Patton Boggs winning new appointments. The group combined its corporate and commercial and property panels in the first review of its external advisers in more than seven years, with Addleshaw Goddard, Pinsents, Hill Dickinson, Brodies and southeast firm Paris Smith all reappointed for three-year terms.
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