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Provision of Defence Personal Injury Legal Services

the Education Authority

This public procurement record has 4 releases in its history.

Award

30 Jun 2026 at 12:02

UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Award

18 Jun 2026 at 16:18

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Tender

24 Feb 2026 at 16:23

UK4 - Tender Notice
Planning

03 Oct 2025 at 10:40

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Education Authority has completed the procurement for the "Provision of Defence Personal Injury Legal Services," a contract intended to engage up to four legal firms to manage defence personal injury cases across Northern Ireland. The procurement process, identified under the code BSP-25-013, followed an open procedure and fell under the category of legal services (CPV 79100000). The contract, valued at £2,640,000 gross, encompasses services like legal representation in actual or anticipated proceedings and appeals at both High Court and County Court levels. Located primarily in Belfast, the Education Authority operates under the Northern Irish devolved regulations, and this tender advanced from planning to its final award stage with multiple contracts signed on 30th June 2026, effective from 1st July 2026.

This contract offers significant growth opportunities for legal service providers experienced in personal injury defence. It is ideal for large firms owing to the rotational allocation of work, with multiple opportunities extending throughout a four-year span until 30th June 2030. The sectors covered by this tender, including legal advisory and representation services, make it well-suited to businesses capable of adapting to variable workloads and maintaining high standards of quality and cost efficiency. With no exclusivity or volume guarantee provided by the Education Authority, suppliers can expect flexibility and the possibility for establishing long-term collaborative relationships within the public sector.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Provision of Defence Personal Injury Legal Services

Notice Description

The Education Authority seek to establish a Contract with up to 4 firms of solicitors for the Provision of Defence Personal Injury Legal Services (i.e. defence of actual or anticipated High Court or County Court personal injury proceedings served upon the Education Authority, Libraries NI, a Board of Governors of a controlled school or a Board of Governors of an Irish Medium School or the Trustees / Board of Governors of a Catholic Maintained School - and if necessary the undertaking of a separate initial claims investigation function- as well as the defence or prosecution of an appeal from any court decision given in any such proceedings and/or the bringing of third party proceedings or associated contribution proceedings); the conduct of all such proceedings or investigative function to be carried out in accordance with the Contractual Arrangements. This contract will be used on an as-and-when-required basis. EA does not make any commitment regarding the frequency or value of work to be allocated. Contractors shall understand that the workload is indeterminate. Accordingly, no form of exclusivity is conferred, nor is any volume guarantee granted by EA in relation to the provision of work to the Contractors. Although the majority of work will be allocated on a rotational basis, EA reserves the right at its absolute discretion to allocate all or any work under this contract to the Education Authority Solicitors or another legal services provider instead of allocating the work to either of the Contractors.

Planning Information

Details of the PME Questionnaire can be found in the CfT for this exercise on eTendersNI - link here https://etendersni.gov.uk/ Interested participants should complete the questionnaire and upload by 3pm on 10 October 2025. Completed questionnaires must be returned via the eTendersNI Messaging function as an attachment. If you have any other questions that you would wish to raise EA are happy to consider these also, such queries should be submitted following the declaration on the questionnaire.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-05a79c
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/061171-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
Large, SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

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

CPV Codes

79000000 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

79100000 - Legal services

79110000 - Legal advisory and representation services

79111000 - Legal advisory services

79112000 - Legal representation services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£2,200,000 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
£2,200,000 £1M-£10M
Awards Value
£2,200,000 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
£2,200,000 £1M-£10M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
30 Jun 20261 months ago
Submission Deadline
27 Mar 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
29 Oct 2025Expired
Award Date
16 Jun 20262 months ago
Contract Period
1 Jul 2026 - 30 Jun 2030 4-5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
the Education Authority
Additional Buyers

Education Authority

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 2NQ
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
Duncairn
Westminster Constituency
Belfast North

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
4
Supplier Names

DAC BEACHCROFT (N.IRELAND) LLP

KEOGHS NORTHERN IRELAND LLP

NAPIER & SONS SOLICITORS LTD

TUGHANS LLP

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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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.

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