Award

Ask AI about this notice

Summarise, research or assess it with AI

View Markdown

Share this notice

Send this contract to a colleague

ID 4789374 DoF - DSO Legal Services Framework

Departmental Solicitor's Office

This public procurement record has 3 releases in its history.

Award

25 Sep 2024 at 16:22

Award Notice
TenderUpdate

18 Apr 2024 at 17:19

Tender Notice
Tender

20 Mar 2024 at 15:58

Tender Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Departmental Solicitor's Office (DSO) of Northern Ireland has concluded an extensive procurement process to establish a legal services framework agreement. This framework, titled "ID 4789374 DoF - DSO Legal Services Framework," covers the provision of specified legal services within Northern Ireland, benefiting various NICS departments and agencies. The agreement consists of five lots: Inquiries Law, Corporate and Commercial Law, Law relating to Property matters, Law relating to DAERA matters, and Law relating to DfC matters. Each lot has been awarded to the top three bidder firms. The procurement process, initiated on 24 April 2024, extended through several stages, including an extended tender closing date on 1 May 2025. This framework aims to supplement DSO’s in-house legal services, especially for projects where DSO lacks resources or immediacy.

This framework presents substantial business growth opportunities, especially for legal firms of varied scales. As participants can tender for one, multiple, or all lots, it grants flexibility and the possibility of significant engagement in high-demand legal services across government sectors. Businesses specialising in legal advisory, representation, and law-courts-related administrative services are particularly suited for this tender. The open procurement method ensured a competitive and transparent process, likely driving up service standards and giving firms a chance to demonstrate their capabilities across diverse legal disciplines. Being part of this framework could establish long-term relationships with government bodies, enhancing both reputation and future business prospects.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

ID 4789374 DoF - DSO Legal Services Framework

Notice Description

Departmental Solicitors Office (DSO) intends to establish a Framework Agreement for the provision of specified legal services within Northern Ireland, on behalf their clients, the NICS Department and Agencies. The list of participating bodies can be found within Annex A of the Framework Agreement Specification. DSO are the in-house legal provision for the NICS Departments and Agencies. This framework will act as an overflow to the services provided by DSO. DSO and the Client is not obliged to procure services exclusively from this Framework Agreement and are free to either use their own in-house service provision, or to procure services outside this Framework Agreement. The Framework will be used on occasions where DSO is unable to provide the client Departments and Agencies with the legal support required within the client Departments' required timescales or, for specific project work that DSO cannot facilitate within its existing resource. On such occasions this Legal Services Framework will supplement the legal services supplied by DSO. The Framework Agreement will contain five (5) Lots for the provision of legal services as described in the Framework Agreement Specification. The three highest ranked tenderers for each of the 5 Lots will be awarded a place on the Framework Agreement (in the event there is an insufficient number of tenderers which satisfy the qualification criteria and pass the Assessment Criteria for each Lot, a Lot may be established with this lower number of tenderers). Tenderers can tender for one, multiple, or all Lots. There is no restriction on the number of lots a tenderer may be appointed to; however a tenderer must have the capability and capacity to deliver all lots tendered for.

Lot Information

Inquiries Law

Departmental Solicitors Office (DSO) intends to establish a Framework Agreement for the provision of specified legal services within Northern Ireland, on behalf their clients, the NICS Department and Agencies. The list of participating bodies can be found within Annex A of the Framework Agreement Specification. DSO are the in-house legal provision for the NICS Departments and Agencies. This framework will act as an overflow to the services provided by DSO. DSO and the Client is not obliged to procure services exclusively from this Framework Agreement and are free to either use their own in-house service provision, or to procure services outside this Framework Agreement. The Framework will be used on occasions where DSO is unable to provide the client Departments and Agencies with the legal support required within the client Departments' required timescales or, for specific project work that DSO cannot facilitate within its existing resource. On such occasions this Legal Services Framework will supplement the legal services supplied by DSO. The Framework Agreement will contain five (5) Lots for the provision of legal services as described in the Framework Agreement Specification. The three highest ranked tenderers for each of the 5 Lots will be awarded a place on the Framework Agreement (in the event there is an insufficient number of tenderers which satisfy the qualification criteria and pass the Assessment Criteria for each Lot, a Lot may be established with this lower number of tenderers). Tenderers can tender for one, multiple, or all Lots. There is no restriction on the number of lots a tenderer may be appointed to; however a tenderer must have the capability and capacity to deliver all lots tendered for. Additional information: The figure indicated in Section II 1.7 represents an estimated contract value. This value reflects the. potential scale of the contract and takes into account potential optional extension periods and the uptake of potential optional services. as detailed in the tender documents. This figure does not however take into account the application of indexation. Neither CPD nor. the Authority can provide any guarantee as to the level of business under this contract. The Contracting Authority does notbind itself to. accept the lowest or any tender. Economic Operators remain responsible for all costs and expenses incurred by them or by any third. party acting under instructions from the Economic Operator in connection with taking part in this procurement process regardless. of whether such costs arise as a consequence, directly or indirectly of any amendments made to the procurement documents by the. Contracting Authority at any time. No legally binding contract shall arise and an Economic Operator shall. have no legitimate expectation. that a contract will be entered into until such time as entry into the Contract has been confirmed by the. Contracting Authority. Economic. Operators should note that all dates, time periods and figures in relation to values and volumes specified. in this notice and the. procurement documents are approximate only and the Contracting Authority reserves the right to change any or all of them

Corporate and Commercial Law

Departmental Solicitors Office (DSO) intends to establish a Framework Agreement for the provision of specified legal services within Northern Ireland, on behalf their clients, the NICS Department and Agencies. The list of participating bodies can be found within Annex A of the Framework Agreement Specification. DSO are the in-house legal provision for the NICS Departments and Agencies. This framework will act as an overflow to the services provided by DSO. DSO and the Client is not obliged to procure services exclusively from this Framework Agreement and are free to either use their own in-house service provision, or to procure services outside this Framework Agreement. The Framework will be used on occasions where DSO is unable to provide the client Departments and Agencies with the legal support required within the client Departments' required timescales or, for specific project work that DSO cannot facilitate within its existing resource. On such occasions this Legal Services Framework will supplement the legal services supplied by DSO. The Framework Agreement will contain five (5) Lots for the provision of legal services as described in the Framework Agreement Specification. The three highest ranked tenderers for each of the 5 Lots will be awarded a place on the Framework Agreement (in the event there is an insufficient number of tenderers which satisfy the qualification criteria and pass the Assessment Criteria for each Lot, a Lot may be established with this lower number of tenderers). Tenderers can tender for one, multiple, or all Lots. There is no restriction on the number of lots a tenderer may be appointed to; however a tenderer must have the capability and capacity to deliver all lots tendered for. Additional information: The figure indicated in Section II 1.7 represents an estimated contract value. This value reflects the. potential scale of the contract and takes into account potential optional extension periods and the uptake of potential optional services. as detailed in the tender documents. This figure does not however take into account the application of indexation. Neither CPD nor. the Authority can provide any guarantee as to the level of business under this contract. The Contracting Authority does notbind itself to. accept the lowest or any tender. Economic Operators remain responsible for all costs and expenses incurred by them or by any third. party acting under instructions from the Economic Operator in connection with taking part in this procurement process regardless. of whether such costs arise as a consequence, directly or indirectly of any amendments made to the procurement documents by the. Contracting Authority at any time. No legally binding contract shall arise and an Economic Operator shall. have no legitimate expectation. that a contract will be entered into until such time as entry into the Contract has been confirmed by the. Contracting Authority. Economic. Operators should note that all dates, time periods and figures in relation to values and volumes specified. in this notice and the. procurement documents are approximate only and the Contracting Authority reserves the right to change any or all of them

Law relating to Property matters

Departmental Solicitors Office (DSO) intends to establish a Framework Agreement for the provision of specified legal services within Northern Ireland, on behalf their clients, the NICS Department and Agencies. The list of participating bodies can be found within Annex A of the Framework Agreement Specification. DSO are the in-house legal provision for the NICS Departments and Agencies. This framework will act as an overflow to the services provided by DSO. DSO and the Client is not obliged to procure services exclusively from this Framework Agreement and are free to either use their own in-house service provision, or to procure services outside this Framework Agreement. The Framework will be used on occasions where DSO is unable to provide the client Departments and Agencies with the legal support required within the client Departments' required timescales or, for specific project work that DSO cannot facilitate within its existing resource. On such occasions this Legal Services Framework will supplement the legal services supplied by DSO. The Framework Agreement will contain five (5) Lots for the provision of legal services as described in the Framework Agreement Specification. The three highest ranked tenderers for each of the 5 Lots will be awarded a place on the Framework Agreement (in the event there is an insufficient number of tenderers which satisfy the qualification criteria and pass the Assessment Criteria for each Lot, a Lot may be established with this lower number of tenderers). Tenderers can tender for one, multiple, or all Lots. There is no restriction on the number of lots a tenderer may be appointed to; however a tenderer must have the capability and capacity to deliver all lots tendered for. Additional information: The figure indicated in Section II 1.7 represents an estimated contract value. This value reflects the. potential scale of the contract and takes into account potential optional extension periods and the uptake of potential optional services. as detailed in the tender documents. This figure does not however take into account the application of indexation. Neither CPD nor. the Authority can provide any guarantee as to the level of business under this contract. The Contracting Authority does notbind itself to. accept the lowest or any tender. Economic Operators remain responsible for all costs and expenses incurred by them or by any third. party acting under instructions from the Economic Operator in connection with taking part in this procurement process regardless. of whether such costs arise as a consequence, directly or indirectly of any amendments made to the procurement documents by the. Contracting Authority at any time. No legally binding contract shall arise and an Economic Operator shall. have no legitimate expectation. that a contract will be entered into until such time as entry into the Contract has been confirmed by the. Contracting Authority. Economic. Operators should note that all dates, time periods and figures in relation to values and volumes specified. in this notice and the. procurement documents are approximate only and the Contracting Authority reserves the right to change any or all of them

Law relating to DAERA matters

Departmental Solicitors Office (DSO) intends to establish a Framework Agreement for the provision of specified legal services within Northern Ireland, on behalf their clients, the NICS Department and Agencies. The list of participating bodies can be found within Annex A of the Framework Agreement Specification. DSO are the in-house legal provision for the NICS Departments and Agencies. This framework will act as an overflow to the services provided by DSO. DSO and the Client is not obliged to procure services exclusively from this Framework Agreement and are free to either use their own in-house service provision, or to procure services outside this Framework Agreement. The Framework will be used on occasions where DSO is unable to provide the client Departments and Agencies with the legal support required within the client Departments' required timescales or, for specific project work that DSO cannot facilitate within its existing resource. On such occasions this Legal Services Framework will supplement the legal services supplied by DSO. The Framework Agreement will contain five (5) Lots for the provision of legal services as described in the Framework Agreement Specification. The three highest ranked tenderers for each of the 5 Lots will be awarded a place on the Framework Agreement (in the event there is an insufficient number of tenderers which satisfy the qualification criteria and pass the Assessment Criteria for each Lot, a Lot may be established with this lower number of tenderers). Tenderers can tender for one, multiple, or all Lots. There is no restriction on the number of lots a tenderer may be appointed to; however a tenderer must have the capability and capacity to deliver all lots tendered for. Additional information: The figure indicated in Section II 1.7 represents an estimated contract value. This value reflects the. potential scale of the contract and takes into account potential optional extension periods and the uptake of potential optional services. as detailed in the tender documents. This figure does not however take into account the application of indexation. Neither CPD nor. the Authority can provide any guarantee as to the level of business under this contract. The Contracting Authority does notbind itself to. accept the lowest or any tender. Economic Operators remain responsible for all costs and expenses incurred by them or by any third. party acting under instructions from the Economic Operator in connection with taking part in this procurement process regardless. of whether such costs arise as a consequence, directly or indirectly of any amendments made to the procurement documents by the. Contracting Authority at any time. No legally binding contract shall arise and an Economic Operator shall. have no legitimate expectation. that a contract will be entered into until such time as entry into the Contract has been confirmed by the. Contracting Authority. Economic. Operators should note that all dates, time periods and figures in relation to values and volumes specified. in this notice and the. procurement documents are approximate only and the Contracting Authority reserves the right to change any or all of them

Law relating to DfC matters

Departmental Solicitors Office (DSO) intends to establish a Framework Agreement for the provision of specified legal services within Northern Ireland, on behalf their clients, the NICS Department and Agencies. The list of participating bodies can be found within Annex A of the Framework Agreement Specification. DSO are the in-house legal provision for the NICS Departments and Agencies. This framework will act as an overflow to the services provided by DSO. DSO and the Client is not obliged to procure services exclusively from this Framework Agreement and are free to either use their own in-house service provision, or to procure services outside this Framework Agreement. The Framework will be used on occasions where DSO is unable to provide the client Departments and Agencies with the legal support required within the client Departments' required timescales or, for specific project work that DSO cannot facilitate within its existing resource. On such occasions this Legal Services Framework will supplement the legal services supplied by DSO. The Framework Agreement will contain five (5) Lots for the provision of legal services as described in the Framework Agreement Specification. The three highest ranked tenderers for each of the 5 Lots will be awarded a place on the Framework Agreement (in the event there is an insufficient number of tenderers which satisfy the qualification criteria and pass the Assessment Criteria for each Lot, a Lot may be established with this lower number of tenderers). Tenderers can tender for one, multiple, or all Lots. There is no restriction on the number of lots a tenderer may be appointed to; however a tenderer must have the capability and capacity to deliver all lots tendered for. Additional information: The figure indicated in Section II 1.7 represents an estimated contract value. This value reflects the. potential scale of the contract and takes into account potential optional extension periods and the uptake of potential optional services. as detailed in the tender documents. This figure does not however take into account the application of indexation. Neither CPD nor. the Authority can provide any guarantee as to the level of business under this contract. The Contracting Authority does notbind itself to. accept the lowest or any tender. Economic Operators remain responsible for all costs and expenses incurred by them or by any third. party acting under instructions from the Economic Operator in connection with taking part in this procurement process regardless. of whether such costs arise as a consequence, directly or indirectly of any amendments made to the procurement documents by the. Contracting Authority at any time. No legally binding contract shall arise and an Economic Operator shall. have no legitimate expectation. that a contract will be entered into until such time as entry into the Contract has been confirmed by the. Contracting Authority. Economic. Operators should note that all dates, time periods and figures in relation to values and volumes specified. in this notice and the. procurement documents are approximate only and the Contracting Authority reserves the right to change any or all of them

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-044aef
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/030665-2024
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Tender Notice
Procurement Type
Framework
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

75 - Administration, defence and social security services

79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

CPV Codes

75231100 - Law-courts-related administrative services

79100000 - Legal services

79110000 - Legal advisory and representation services

79111000 - Legal advisory services

79112000 - Legal representation services

79112100 - Stakeholders representation services

79140000 - Legal advisory and information services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£1,333,333 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£1

Notice Dates

Publication Date
25 Sep 20241 years ago
Submission Deadline
24 Apr 2024Expired
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
10 Sep 20241 years ago
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Active
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Departmental Solicitor's Office
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
BELFAST
Postcode
BT1 3LP
Postcode Area
Northern Ireland
Country
Northern Ireland
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLN Northern Ireland
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLN0 Northern Ireland
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLN06 Belfast
Delivery Location
TLN Northern Ireland
Local Authority
Belfast
Electoral Ward
Central
Westminster Constituency
Belfast South and Mid Down

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
5
Supplier Names

ARTHUR COX

CLEAVER FULTON RANKIN LTD

Carson McDowell LLP

TLT N.I. LLP

Tughans

Further Information

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

JSON Markdown

The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

Loading OCDS record...