back to listings SME Profile: SBV Consulting Ltd
SBV Consulting Ltd
t. 07776 184278 / 01892 516474 e. sbv@sbvconsulting.co.uk w. sbvconsulting.co.uk
Welcome to SBV Consulting Ltd
A consulting business specialising in legal procurement, legal operations and legal project management run by owner and manager, Sarah Barrett-Vane.
I provide consultancy services and interim assignments for in-house legal departments, law firms, alternative legal services providers (or law companies) and legal technology companies, including:
- in-house legal operations
- legal procurement and panel reviews – public and private sector
- legal technology implementation and process improvements for in-house teams
- legal technology solutions development
- bid support and bid writing for law firms and other legal services providers
If you are in the public sector and wish to establish a legal panel for the first time or renew an existing panel, I could help you with this.
You may wish to revisit the fee arrangements and/or value-added services you have in place with your law firms or other legal services providers. Are you obtaining excellent value for money?
You may be looking into the various legal technology solutions available to make your in-house team work more effectively and efficiently, freeing up your people’s time to concentrate on the work that really matters.
My experience: I held the position of Director of Legal Operations at Royal Mail plc from 2012 to 2018, leaving to pursue freelance/interim work on a full-time basis.
I qualified as a lawyer and worked in private practice before moving in-house, where I held positions in both the private and public sector. In 2005 I moved sideways into legal procurement and, from there, into legal operations.
This broad range of experience means I am well-positioned to advise both in-house legal teams and law firms on the operational aspects of their practice and procurement work.
SERVICES
Many leaders of in-house legal teams will have heard about legal operations and will appreciate its importance and the benefits that can be achieved. However, some departments may not have the budget – or appetite – to either recruit a permanent legal operations executive or bring in one of the Big Four (or similar firm) to assist them in this area. This is where I could help on an ad hoc or interim basis.
As Director of Legal Operations at Royal Mail plc from 2012 to 2018, I was responsible for budget management for Group Legal; running all legal panel reviews and other legal appointments alongside the GC; managing Royal Mail’s law firms and other legal services providers; and accountable for all operational aspects of an in-house legal team, including investigating and implementing new technologies.
Over the past few years, I have focused on leading project and business process management in a continually changing, cost conscious environment. The legal budget at Royal Mail was reduced by 40% over five years. The team is still handling the same types and volumes of work but doing things differently. Whether handling the work in-house or outsourcing it, ways of working had to change. Read more
Legal panel reviews have been carried out by companies and large public sector bodies for several years as a way to formally appoint a group of law firms to their panel, establish common ways of working and benefit from more competitive rates and volume discounts.
The legal market has seen a great deal of disruption and change in recent years and in-house counsel now find themselves with far more choice. Traditional law firms are no longer the only potential recipient of a company’s legal budget. New providers have upset the status quo. Some of the more progressive law firms have adapted their business model to address the new competition. Forward-thinking in-house leaders, eager to avail themselves of the new opportunities, are looking further afield to ‘alternative’ legal service providers (or law companies) and legal technology providers. They can distribute their budget far more widely than ever before, choosing the right provider to perform the right service with the right people (and/or technology) in the right location.
Any legal panel review needs to be planned meticulously and resourced adequately, as success will often hinge on how successfully all relevant stakeholders have been engaged and brought into the process. Their buy in can be crucial. If an organisation operates in the public sector, there is the additional and stringent burden of navigating and complying with the public procurement rules.
My experience: I have worked in the legal procurement area since 2003, and managed panel reviews for both the public sector – the Legal Aid Agency and Royal Mail/ Post Office – and the private sector – Royal Mail, post-privatisation.
I completed Royal Mail’s legal panel reviews and contract extensions under three successive General Counsel from 2010 to 2018 – each result different depending on the requirements. I have carried out three full scale legal panel reviews during 2018 and 2019, two in the public sector (for large household names) and one for a FTSE 250 plc. Each panel review was tailored to the GC’s specific requirements.
Scope of work: I will manage the panel review from beginning to end, if required – from discussing strategy and options to project managing the entire exercise on your behalf and drafting the tender and/or contract documentation, liaising with your Group Procurement department where necessary. I have extensive experience of drafting and negotiating panel agreements and ways of working protocols with legal services suppliers. I am familiar with public procurement law and will work with your in-house procurement lawyer and procurement team to ensure the exercise complies with your obligations and practices. Read more
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