Hugh James Legal Services

We are one of the UK’s leading law firms, and the largest independent law firm in Wales. Our head office is in Cardiff, but we also have offices in London, Manchester and Southampton. We service a vast range of public sector clients across the UK. Although our team has now grown to more than 600 lawyers and support staff, we have retained a culture which is based on working in close partnership with our clients. This means listening to our clients and providing exceptional technical advice on the critical issues affecting their organisations and projects. Hugh James legal services

Our Public Sector Practice Hugh James Legal services

We have a long-established and large Public Sector practice which advises more than 50 public sector clients, including the central government, local authorities, government-sponsored organisations, police forces and education and healthcare providers. Several of our lawyers have previously worked in-house in central and local government, and many members of the team work solely with the public sector.

This depth of expertise and understanding of the sector – the unique challenges, opportunities, political context and culture – enables us to add additional insight and value for our clients.

We have teams specialising in many areas of the law, including the following:

Construction and Projects
Employment and Pensions Law
Corporate and Commercial
Procurement
Information Law
Commercial Property
Planning and Environment
Dispute Resolution
Public Law

Energy
Housing Management
Property Litigation
Insurance
Banking
Regulatory and Corporate Crime
Adult and Child Social Care
Health and Safety

Adding value

Our clients tell us that it’s the following features of our offering that make the greatest difference for them.

Cost-effective, partner-led teams

We offer a partner-led team, whose oversight will ensure that you receive a quality service. The team will also include junior lawyers who can advise on less complex, more day-to-day matters, and trainees and paralegals who can support with research and administrative tasks.

Where work is done by a more junior member of the team, their work will be peer reviewed and quality checked by the Lead Partner. We recognise the financial pressures facing organisations in the wider public, and this approach to staff allocation helps to ensure we strike the right balance between quality, efficiency and value for money.

A commitment to upskilling

We appreciate that many in-house lawyers need to be an expert in all things! We are committed to working in partnership with our clients and to upskilling their teams to enable them to become more self-sufficient. We add value for our clients by offering secondments, as well as regular training and thought leadership. Take a look at our latest offering, our Future of Public Procurement information hub, which has been designed to help you get to grips with the major changes in procurement reform on the horizon. Hugh James legal services

Dedicated public sector relationship management

We have a dedicated Client Relations Manager for the public and education sectors, whose role is to ensure we deliver a quality service and keep our promises to our clients. Our Client Relations Manager ensures we have formal review meetings to seek feedback on our performance to support continuous improvement. They ensure that any issues are caught early before they become major hurdles. They also monitor any agreed KPIs, help to arrange any requested training and value-added activity, and provide clients with regular Management Information.