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Brodies LLP’s public sector services group is led by Jackie McGuire. It was reappointed as legal adviser to Midlothian Council; defended East Renfrewshire Council in a judicial review; and is advising Aberdeen City Council on a redevelopment project.

‘Exemplary in all areas’, Dundas & Wilson CS LLP is a key player in local government work and advises Stirling Council, West Lothian Council and the City of Edinburgh Council, among others. Ann Faulds heads the team, which has ‘strength and depth as a particular advantage’. Ailsa Ritchie is also recommended.

Fiona Killen and Robert Fife lead Anderson Strathern’s local government practice. The team has been successful in recent tenders to local authorities including the City of Edinburgh Council, the Highland Council and East Renfrewshire Council.

Biggart Baillie LLP’s clients include Perth & Kinross Council, Abderdeenshire Council and Fife Council. The team, headed by Wayne Lawrence, advised the Highland Council on its £70m second-generation ICT outsourcing project.

The ‘excellent’ Stephen Phillips heads Burness LLP’s public sector practice. The firm is advising several councils regarding the South East Territory hub initiative, including Edinburgh, West Lothian and East Lothian.

DLA Piper Scotland LLP is advising Glasgow City Council on procuring residual waste services. Sharon Fitzgerald ‘offers first-class advice on procurement-related matters’, and practice head Hazel Moffat is also highly recommended.

Gordon McCreath and consultant David Nash in Pinsent Masons LLP’s public sector group are advising City of Edinburgh Council and Midlothian Council on two PPP waste projects. Yvonne Dunn heads the team, which is acting for five councils and other entities that form the hub North territory in setting up the ‘hubco’, helping to facilitate the Scottish government’s hub initiative.

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP’s public sector group ‘appreciates the obstacles to acting on advice which can occasionally arise in local government’. It won panel appointments to the City of Edinburgh Council and East Renfrewshire Council. Amanda Jones is ‘prompt and willing to go the extra mile’.

Shepherd and Wedderburn’s council clients include City of Edinburgh Council, the Highland Council and Dundee City Council. Highlights in 2010 included advising on the procurement of Western Isles Council’s hybrid education PPP project. Rhona Harper heads the group.

Harper Macleod LLP advised local authorities on a number of property, housing and regeneration matters in 2010. Edinburgh City Council and the Highland Council are clients. Derek Hogg heads the team, in which other key individuals are Professor Robert Rennie, Lorne Crerar, James McMorrow, David Steel and Len Freedman.

MacRoberts LLP advises on the full range of local government matters, and has particular expertise in employment law. The team, led by Duncan Osler, saw an increase in instructions relating to procurement, joint working, restructuring, redevelopment and regeneration schemes, and is noted for its ‘exceptional knowledge’.

McGrigors LLP’s public law team has been advising City of Edinburgh Council on an £85m infrastructure deal. Senior solicitor Jamie McRorie is highly recommended, and Alan Boyd retired from the partnership in 2010 but continues to advise as a consultant. Belfast-based Stuart Cairns was appointed to head the firm’s UK-wide public law practice.

Morton Fraser was appointed to all three of City of Edinburgh Council’s legal panels. Jonathan Seddon heads the team, which has handled some significant contentious matters for its local government clients.

Simpson & Marwick has established a reputation for representing public bodies in contentious matters and investigations, including acting as agents in the Supreme Court. Ranald MacPherson and new partner Katy Nisbet are ‘experts in their fields’, and ‘take a robust approach’.

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