Legal panel framework for NGBs

Sport England, the Sport and Recreation Alliance, Sport Wales and UK Sport have teamed up to establish a framework panel of law firms to provide legal services to National Governing Bodies of Sport and Recreation organisations.

We have identified that sport and recreation bodies face financial and resource challenges to accessing legal services. On behalf of the bodies we support we conducted a thorough procurement process to establish a Legal Panel Framework of 10 firms that sport and recreation organisations can use with confidence.

The Legal Panel Framework aims to make it easier for national governing bodies (NGBs) and wider sport and recreation organisations to identify and gain access to high quality legal firms at fair rates - delivering better value for money and providing a wide range of value added opportunities for the sector.

During the procurement process we assessed their level of understanding of the sport and recreation sector, their ability to offer discounted rates to the sector alongside their legal capacity and ability.

The firms have been appointed to the Framework and you can find a list of them by clicking here.

We recognise instructing law firms can be a challenging task. We have worked alongside Sport Wales, the SRA, and UK Sport and in collaboration with the Legal Panel Firms to produce guidance on how best to instruct them for work. Guidance on how to instruct the Legal Panel Firms can be found here.

Part of this initiative is a Pro-Bono Fund where up to £150,000 of legal advice over three years will be available to eligible National Governing Bodies. Details on eligibility and how to apply can be found on the pro-bono guidance page.

Visit this page to find out what other services the Legal Panel Firms will be offering as part of their appointment to the Legal Panel Framework and their commitment to service the needs of the sector in a cost-effective way.

More details about each of the firms will be available on these pages including information on the types of services and training opportunities that will be on offer as part of the value-in-kind provision from each of the firms.

If you would like more information please contact Erin Stephens, Senior In-House Solicitor at Sport England.