It took a Freedom of Information request after being snubbed numerous times via official government channels
BY:
Caterina Conti
Media Operations
PROJECT COUNSEL MEDIA
9 July 2020 (Paris, France) – There is an interesting story in The Lawyer today. The UK Government Legal Department (GLD) spent £11.8m on external law firms and counsel in the first five months of the year. And the only reason The Lawyer got this information was due to a Freedom of Information request (FOI) it submitted after being snubbed numerous times via official channels at the GLD.
It’s a long report and The Lawyer has published snippets so herein a few of the more salient points:
• The GLD used 49 firms in total between the start of 2020 and 22 May, with a large proportion of its bill going towards counsel costs (£10.1m). The GLD has a sizeable legal department, meaning a lot of the work is carried out in-house, while external help and advocacy is sought on large matters.
• The GLD has not used any magic circle firm in 2020. The department has instead used Ashurst, DAC Beachcroft, Dentons, DLA Piper, Eversheds Sutherland, Gowling WLG, Mills & Reeve, Osborne Clarke, TLT, Womble Bond Dickinson and Fieldfisher.
• The FOI did not specify which counsel have been used but the department generally draws on its A, B or C panel – which comprises of 399 barristers from 64 chambers. Landmark Chambers has the most panel barristers (27).
• The biggest case that the Government was involved in last year was Gina Miller’s claim against Boris Johnson’s prorogration of parliament. The case reached the Supreme Court, with the panel siding with Miller’s team instead of the GLD and its instructed counsel; James Eadie QC of Blackstone, Landmark Chambers’ David Blundell, 11KBW’s Christopher Knight and Brick Court’s Richard Howell.
• Eadie QC is also representing the Home Office as it tries to prevent Shamima Begum from returning to the UK. Begum was one of three East London girls to travel to Syria in 2015 to join ISIS and had her British citizenship revoked in March 2019. Begum challenged this decision, instructing Blackstone’s Tom Hickman QC.
• Further claims are being filed against the Government in relation to Covid-19. On March 2020, a workers union filed legal action over the economic support measures, while Bindmans launched legal action for two doctors who are challenging the guidance given in relation to PPE equipment.
• In another coronavirus-related claim, millionaire businessman Simon Dolan issued legal proceedings against Matt Hancock and Gavin Williamson alleging the response to coronavirus has been disproportionate.
• Meanwhile another FOI request submitted by The Lawyer revealed that the SFO spent £11.2m in the 2019/20 financial year. Again, its in-house team is large enough to ensure that a large proportion of its investigation work is tackled internally. While the SFO would not disclose which law firms or counsel it has instructed in the past 12 months, its procurement spend data for matters costing over £25,000 are published on its website. This shows that the department has used Gowling WLG, Eversheds Sutherland and several barristers between January 2019 and March 2020. A total of £43,650 was paid to Sir David Calvert-Smith for example, who led an independent investigation relating to the ENRC dispute. The probe was abandoned in Jun 2019.
• According to the data, the SFO has used three barristers from 6KBW and three from QEB Hollis Whiteman. Annabel Darlow QC of 6KBW was paid £40,078 in May 2018. While Sasha Wass QC and Esther Schutzer-Weissmann, both of 6KBW, were paid just over £28,000 in the same month.
• QEB’s Edward Brown was paid £151,090 in June 2019, Sean Larkin QC was paid £55,687 between June and July 2019 and Paul Raudnitz was paid £25,829 in July 2019. Brown was paid a further £41,578 in December 2019. Gowling received £141,443 in September 2019, while Eversheds received £121,149 in January 2019.
