EM LawShare consortium secures 100th member after Coventry signs up

Coventry City Council has this week become the 100th member of the EM LawShare consortium.

EM LawShare said its membership now includes 52 district councils, 20 unitary and metropolitan councils, seven county councils, four fire and rescue authorities, three NHS trusts, three housing organisations and one police authority.

The consortium has six partner firms on a panel that came into effect in April 2014: Bevan Brittan; Browne Jacobson; Freeths; Geldards; Sharpe Pritchard; and Weightmans. They provide benefits including free training and other support.

EM LawShare head Jayne Francis-Ward, who is also Director of Corporate Resources at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “We warmly welcome Coventry City Council to our partnership. At a time when the entire public sector faces considerable financial pressures, it makes sense to further combine the strength of the local government and public sector community - with specialist private sector legal support.

“This is about giving council tax payers better value for money, while empowering members and giving them the freedom to make intelligent purchasing choices with enhanced levels of cost certainty.”

Helen Lynch, Legal Services Manager (Place and Regulatory) and Acting Monitoring Officer, Coventry City Council, said: “The Council is driving a huge amount of change in the city, which needs support from its lawyers. We have recently restructured Legal Services to enhance what we offer, so we are joining EM LawShare at the right time. 

“We are continually looking at achieving the best value for money in the services we provide and being part of a wider legal consortium makes economic sense.”