Thank you for your request for information regarding Legal costs, which
was received on 29th November, 2010 and is being dealt with under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000.  We are therefore required to provide you
with a response within 20 working days, which will be on or before 24th
December, 2010. 

If we require any clarification or further details, we will contact you as
soon as possible.

In the meantime, if you have any queries, please do not hesitate to
contact me, remembering to quote the reference number above in any
communications.

John Tillman

Information & Data Protection Officer

Mae'r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw atodiadau yn gyfrinachol ac wedi'u bwriadu at
ddefnydd yr unigolyn y'u cyfeiriwyd ato/ati yn unig. Os derbyniwch y neges
hon trwy gamgymeriad, rhowch wybod i'r sawl a'i hanfonodd ar unwaith,
dilëwch y neges o'ch cyfrifiadur a dinistriwch unrhyw gopïau papur ohoni.
Ni ddylech ddangos yr e-bost i neb arall, na gweithredu ar sail y cynnwys.
Eiddo'r awdur yw unrhyw farn neu safbwyntiau a fynegir, ac nid ydynt o
reidrwydd yn cynrychioli safbwynt y Cyngor. Dylech wirio am firysau eich
hunan cyn agor unrhyw atodiad. Nid ydym yn derbyn unrhyw atebolrwydd am
golled neu niwed a all fod wedi'i achosi gan firysau meddalwedd neu drwy
ryng-gipio'r neges hon neu ymyrryd â hi.

 

This e-mail and any attachments are confidential and intended solely for
the use of the individual to whom it is addressed. If received in error
please notify the sender immediately, delete the message from your
computer and destroy any hard copies. The e-mail should not be disclosed
to any other person, nor the contents acted upon. Any views or opinions
expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
of the Council. You should carry out your own virus check before opening
any attachment. We accept no liability for any loss or damage which may be
caused by software viruses or interception/interruption of this mail.

Dear Ms Thompson,

I refer to your request for information regarding legal costs, which was
received on 27^th November, 2010 and has been dealt with under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000.

The specific information you requested was as follows:

“1. Could you please tell me how much Carmarthenshire County Council has
spent on external legal advice and external legal representation since
January 2006 to the present and;

    

2. Provide a yearly breakdown of the figures and please specify which
payments were counsels' fees.

    

3. Provide the names all law firms and individuals who have supplied such
services over these years.

    

4. Identify external legal advisors used whenever the Council's
Constitution has been amended in any way and the cost thereof.

    

5. Detail the tendering process used for the selection of external legal
advisors.”

In response to the first two parts of your request, please find below the
required information, by financial year:

2009/10

Solicitors      -       £303,394

Counsel         -       £408,438

Total                   -       £711,832

2008/09

Solicitors      -       £95,271

Counsel         -       £269,097

Total                   -       £364,369

2007/08

Solicitors      -       £343,329

Counsel         -       £144,963

Total                   -       £488,292

2006/07

Solicitors      -       £272,912

Counsel         -       £167,717

Total                   -       £404,629

With regard to your third question on the law firms, please find below
details for 2008 to 2010.  I regret that I am unable at present to provide
details for previous years, however, a further response will be provided
on this point in the New Year.   I therefore apologise for not providing a
full response to this part of your request within the 20 working days
required by the Act.

The details available in terms of Counsel are as follows:

• Unity Street Chambers - P Langlois, I Wightwick
• 30 Park Place - M Puar, C Hayworth, C Williams, E McGahey, E
Sutton, J Barnett, K Hughes, M Witchers, N Sandercock, N Jones, P H
Davies, R Jones, R Henke, O Manley, D Hughes
• Apex - L Reynolds, N Gedge, R Buckland, R Oakley, J Rees, J Ryan
• Civitas - B Thomas, G Walters, N T Symonds
• Temple - J Gibbon, S Radcliffe
• Victory - D Folland
• 11 Kings Bench - J Clement, J Goudie
• 2-3 Greys Inn Sq - G Stephenson
• Hardwicke Buildings - A Meacher
• Iscoed - R Rouch, V Hinchly, P Ashworth, S Flynn, C Jones, C
Collins, F Jones, N Gill, N Preece, D Harris, E Marshall, M
Spakman, R Anthony, R Rouch
• 1 Garden Court - C Geekie
• 9 Park Place - S Thomas, C John, H Edmunson, J Barnett, J Austin, K
Morgan
• Angel - E Harries, P Harris-Jenkins
• Brick Court - M Chamberlain
• Cambrian - P Maddox
• Portal - T Douglas

Firms of solicitors:

• Geldards
• Eversheds
• Morgan La Roche
• Morgan Cole
• Douglas Jones and Mercer
• Hugh James
• John Collins
• Evans Powell
• Llys Cennen
• Kings Legal
• Morris Roberts
• Ungoed Thomas and King
• Davies Parsons
• Jennings
• Pritchard Edwards
• Winchworth Sherwood

In response to your fourth question, I can confirm that as regards the
Council's Constitution, we have not engaged the services of external
lawyers in the circumstances outlined.

Finally, with regard to the selection criteria applied in choosing and
instructing Counsel, these are as follows:

• specialism
• previous use
• recommendation

The criteria above are not listed in order of priority, and one or more
can apply. They may also apply to a Chamber as a whole and not an
individual barrister. The criteria can be extended e.g. if Counsel have
acted in a similar or related matter, or if they happen to be in court and
available for an urgent hearing or application. The criteria should also
consider the seniority of Counsel and balance that seniority against the
complexity of the legal case in hand.

Solicitor practices are engaged from a pre-set select list, which was set
up following a tendering process and operates on a rotation basis.

However, if circumstances warrant, we do occasionally deviate from strict
rotation (e.g. if a firm has acted on the same or similar matter and
therefore has the benefit of previous experience of the issue in hand).

We are currently procuring a new List of External Solicitors and Counsel
in conjunction with a South West Wales Shared Legal Service Project, and
it is hoped this will be operational after April 2011.

If I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact
me.

Yours sincerely

John Tillman
Swyddog Gwybodaeth a Diogelu Data
Adran y Prif Weithredwr
Cyngor Sir Gaerfyrddin

Information & Data Protection Officer
Chief Executive's Department
Carmarthenshire County Council

Mewnol/Internal: 4127
Allanol/External: 01267 224127

  

Mae'r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw atodiadau yn gyfrinachol ac wedi'u bwriadu at
ddefnydd yr unigolyn y'u cyfeiriwyd ato/ati yn unig. Os derbyniwch y neges
hon trwy gamgymeriad, rhowch wybod i'r sawl a'i hanfonodd ar unwaith,
dilëwch y neges o'ch cyfrifiadur a dinistriwch unrhyw gopïau papur ohoni.
Ni ddylech ddangos yr e-bost i neb arall, na gweithredu ar sail y cynnwys.
Eiddo'r awdur yw unrhyw farn neu safbwyntiau a fynegir, ac nid ydynt o
reidrwydd yn cynrychioli safbwynt y Cyngor. Dylech wirio am firysau eich
hunan cyn agor unrhyw atodiad. Nid ydym yn derbyn unrhyw atebolrwydd am
golled neu niwed a all fod wedi'i achosi gan firysau meddalwedd neu drwy
ryng-gipio'r neges hon neu ymyrryd â hi.

 

This e-mail and any attachments are confidential and intended solely for
the use of the individual to whom it is addressed. If received in error
please notify the sender immediately, delete the message from your
computer and destroy any hard copies. The e-mail should not be disclosed
to any other person, nor the contents acted upon. Any views or opinions
expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
of the Council. You should carry out your own virus check before opening
any attachment. We accept no liability for any loss or damage which may be
caused by software viruses or interception/interruption of this mail.

Dear Ms Thompson,

Further to my previous response to your request, I am now able to complete
the response as follows:

3. Provide the names all law firms and individuals who have supplied such
services over these years.

The details regarding Counsel are as follows:

• Unity Street Chambers - P Langlois, I Wightwick
• 30 Park Place - M Puar, C Hayworth, C Williams, E McGahey, E
Sutton, J Barnett, K Hughes, M Witchers, N Sandercock, N Jones, P H
Davies, R Jones, R Henke, O Manley, D Hughes
• Apex - L Reynolds, N Gedge, R Buckland, R Oakley, J Rees, J Ryan
• Civitas - B Thomas, G Walters, N T Symonds
• Temple - J Gibbon, S Radcliffe
• Victory - D Folland
• 11 Kings Bench - J Clement, J Goudie
• 2-3 Greys Inn Sq - G Stephenson
• Hardwicke Buildings - A Meacher
• Iscoed - R Rouch, V Hinchly, P Ashworth, S Flynn, C Jones, C
Collins, F Jones, N Gill, N Preece, D Harris, E Marshall, M
Spakman, R Anthony, R Rouch
• 1 Garden Court - C Geekie
• 9 Park Place - S Thomas, C John, H Edmunson, J Barnett, J Austin, K
Morgan
• Angel - E Harries, P Harris-Jenkins
• Brick Court - M Chamberlain
• Cambrian - P Maddox
• Portal - T Douglas

(additional firms from 2006):

• 30 Park Place - R. Kirby, H Edmondson
• Pendragon  - S Rudman
• Pump Court - C Lorenzo

Firms of solicitors (the list provided in my response of 24th December,
2010 was complete):

• Geldards
• Eversheds
• Morgan La Roche
• Morgan Cole
• Douglas Jones and Mercer
• Hugh James
• John Collins
• Evans Powell
• Llys Cennen
• Kings Legal
• Morris Roberts
• Ungoed Thomas and King
• Davies Parsons
• Jennings
• Pritchard Edwards
• Winchworth Sherwood

Yours sincerely

John Tillman
Swyddog Gwybodaeth a Diogelu Data
Adran y Prif Weithredwr
Cyngor Sir Gaerfyrddin

Information & Data Protection Officer
Chief Executive's Department
Carmarthenshire County Council

Mewnol/Internal: 4127
Allanol/External: 01267 224127

  

show quoted sections