Welcome to NLSF
Welcome to the National Legal Services Framework website or, for short, the ‘NLSF’. The NLSF is a framework agreement covering a wide range of legal services for elected Police and Crime Commissioners, GLA functional bodies, Police Forces and their partner organisations in England and Wales, and Local Authorities. It is a four-year framework running to 30 April 2025.
About the NLSF
In summary
The NLSF has been designed specifically to be easily accessible to, and used by, elected Police and Crime Commissioners, Police Forces and their partner organisations, GLA functional bodies and Local Authorities. Membership of the NLSF enables users to award legal work to a variety of legal firms.
Click here to see if your organisation can use the framework
Key features
Value for money
The NLSF offers excellent value for money with a very competitive fee structure which includes fixed fees and banded rates.
Specialist firms
The law firms appointed to the NLSF are experts in their field and have demonstrated the experience and ability necessary to provide specialist legal advice to all users.
Lots
The NLSF consists of 5 Lots covering a wide range of legal areas:
- Lot 1A Procurement, Contract and Commercial, and Governance: Complex Projects and Disputes
- Lot 1B Procurement, Contract and Commercial, and Governance: Business as Usual
- Lot 2 Civil Litigation, Personal Injury and Debt Recovery
- Lot 3 Employment
- Lot 4 Property — Residential, Commercial and PFI
| Firms | Lot 1A | Lot 1B | Lot 2 | Lot 3 | Lot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blake Morgan | YES | YES | NO | NO | NO |
| Capsticks | NO | NO | NO | YES | YES |
| DAC Beachcroft | NO | YES | NO | NO | NO |
| DWF | NO | NO | YES | NO | NO |
| Gowling WLG | NO | NO | NO | YES | NO |
| Michelmores LLP | NO | NO | NO | NO | YES |
| TLT | YES | YES | NO | YES | YES |
| Weightmans LLP | YES | NO | YES | NO | NO |
The Lots have the built in flexibility so that a single legal firm can provide a ‘Cradle to Grave’ service on any one particular matter.
Flexible Call-Off
To try and meet the diverse needs of users we have created a flexible call-off system. There are 4 different ways you can give work to firms in a Lot:
- Apportionment: Giving equal work to all firms in a Lot over a period time.
- Rotation: Giving work to the firms in a rotating sequence or by turn on a case by case basis. The user can determine its own sequence so long as it is fair to all firms.
- Interview: Giving the work to the firm judged most suitable based upon an interview. This can be used when there is no time to undertake a mini-competition but you want to compare offerings.
- Mini-Competition: Asking the firms to submit bids on specific work or packages of work.
Management
The NLSF is managed by the Metropolitan Police Service’s Metlaw team leaving users free to focus on the outsourcing of their work.
Compliance
The NLSF has been procured in accordance with the Public Contract Regulations 2015.