Public Sector
Public sector legal expertise
Working for the public sector raises both complex and unique challenges. Our highly experienced and knowledgeable lawyers have the skills you need to guide you in understanding and then navigating this complex world of law and procedure. We work across the public sector with a focus on Local Authorities (including Combined Authorities), Education providers and Health, including NHS Trusts. We are pleased to be recognised by the Legal 500 and Chambers, with a ranking in all of the UK regions where we have a presence.
We cover the full spectrum of legal work from advising on multi-million-pound regeneration schemes to grants for a community project. Our expertise covers the full breadth of all of the legal issues you are likely to face everything from multi-party investment partnerships to sensitive employment matters. Watch our short animation below to find out more about our expertise:
About our public sector lawyers
We understand the problems faced by the public sector during these tough economic times. You can trust us to help you achieve your objectives in a cost-effective way.
- Our specialist lawyers have over 25 years’ experience of working for public sector
- Many of our team have worked in-house or held non-executive positions in local authorities, NHS Trusts, school governing bodies and educational institutions
- We are actively involved in working with over 200 public sector bodies which means we are across the latest developments in the sector
- We offer a variety of training and other benefits to help public sector organisations operate at their best
- You can rely on us to provide honest, jargon-free advice and to offer practical solutions
We regularly assist with regeneration schemes, infrastructure, projects, planning, governance advice and compulsory purchase. In addition, we advise on establishing corporate structures, strategic partnering, subsidy control and procurement compliance advice and much more. Our considerable expertise in the Education sector includes advising on academy conversions, governance issues and practical issues such as construction.
We are well-placed to offer the full range of services you may need, drawing on a wealth of experience and knowledge gained over the years. We can help you to stay one step ahead, by sharing the latest know-how on new initiatives at both the local and national level. We pride ourselves on a highly responsive approach and are committed to providing straight-talking and pragmatic support where your interests are central to everything we do. Your peace of mind is our goal. Give us a call to find out more.
Key contact
Nathan Holden
Partner & Head of Local Government
Our clients & notable work
- A number of London boroughs
- Birmingham Metropolitan College
- Chesterfield College
- Cornwall Council
- Crown Commercial Services Public Sector Legal Services
- East Sussex College
- EM Lawshare
- Kent County Council (KCS Procurement)
- Loughborough University
- NHS Property Services
- NHS Shared Services
- North East Procurement Organisation
- North West Legal Consortium
- Nottingham Trent University
- Orbis Public Law
- Oxford Brookes University
- Surrey Consortium of local authorities
- Trinity College, Oxford
- University of Nottingham
- University of Portsmouth
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Creation of a new jointly-owned company to provide Building Control Services across Derbyshire on behalf of a group of District Councils
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Advising Milton Keynes Council on the historic acquisition of £32 million of land and property assets from the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA)
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Advising Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council on two major town centre regeneration projects (£75 million), including making and promotion of CPOs
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Advising and representing NHS organisation in an unfair dismissal and disability discrimination claim
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Advising on a Section 2 NHS Act review into the criminal activity of a GP who had abused patients
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Advising Cambridge City Council on creation of the Cambridge Investment Partnership, a new public-private JV to provide a range of market and social housing, leveraging in a range of public and private funding
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Carrying out due diligence for significant income-generating investment purchases for a number of local authorities
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Creating and vetting new Governance agreements and drafting a revised contribution for a District Council
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Carrying out complex misconduct investigations on behalf of Local Authorities, both ‘Code of Conduct’ based and under internal procedures
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Advising Loughborough University on the “LUil” Project – a strategic project to procure a range of services to enable the smooth running of a new university campus – the Loughborough University Campus in Stratford, East London, a specialised site which will devote itself exclusively to the provision of taught Masters / PHD degrees for an international cohort of students
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Landau Forte Charitable Trust has 600 staff over 6 different sites. We were able to offer a cloud-based solution to provide vertical support across its entire organisation
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Converting a group of PFI schools into members of a Multi-Academy Trust
Our accreditations
We are celebrating another year of accreditations and rankings.
Testimonials
"The team were able to provide comprehensive advice to us and handle competently all the issues and challenges that arose. We felt that the team un...
Client testimonial
NT
"Really committed to getting difficult deals done."
NHS Trust
"The services provided have met our requirements and have been delivered to agreed timetables. We have found Freeths' staff to be capable and respo...
Client testimonial
LU
"It is difficult to recall all of the very significant transactions that Freeths have helped us with but they have included one highly complex comm...
Loughborough University
"Strength in depth in quite a technical field (telecoms). Good understanding of how local authority projects work e.g. how seemingly minor problems...
The Legal 500, 2022
"The lawyers are very knowledgeable and experienced in their respective fields and brought new and innovative ways of dealing with the issues."
The Legal 500, 2024
Meet our team
Philippa Dempster
Senior Partner & London Office Managing Partner
Richard Beverley
Birmingham Office Managing Partner
Patrick Adie
National Head of Housebuilding & Strategic Land
Paul Brailsford
Partner, National Head of Planning & Environment
Nathan Holden
Partner & Head of Local Government
James Hart
Regional Lead for Real Estate in the Midlands – Partner in the Housebuilding & Strategic Land Team
Rena Magdani
Partner & National Head of Employment, Pensions & Immigration
Andrew Maxwell
Partner and Head of Competition
Maxine Chenoweth
Managing Associate
Polly Wisner
Managing Associate, Knowledge & Innovation Lawyer
Related news & articles
Contact us today
Whatever your legal needs, our wide ranging expertise is here to support you and your business, so let’s start your legal journey today and get you in touch with the right lawyer to get you started.
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