INSTRUCTIONS OF THE WEEK 03.04.2003

West country firm Bevan Ashford has been chosen as Bristol City Council's first strategic legal partner.

Following an extensive selection process, Bevan Ashford has been awarded a three-year contract with the opportunity for a two-year extension.

The decision follows a review of the council's legal services, which concluded that a preferred supplier arrangement with an external law firm to support the in-house team was the best way forward.

City firm DLA has been appointed by an industry group of nine telecoms operators to negotiate a contract for partial private circuits with BT.

Existing contractual arrangements were subject to renegotiation to achieve compliance with an Oftel direction issued in December 2002.

Partial private circuits are the key wholesale components of leased lines which telecoms operators buy from BT so they can offer their own services directly to end users.

The nine operators are: Kingston Communications, Cable & Wireless, Energis, NTL, WorldCom, Global Crossing, THUS, Colt Telecommunications, and Your Communications.

Merseyside firm Lees Lloyd Whitley has been appointed as solicitors to the Motorcycle Action Group, which has around 20,000 members.

The firm said the instruction arose directly from its presence at the International Motorcycle and Scooter Show at the NEC in Birmingham in November.

A membership services package has been devised to cover residential conveyancing, probate, insolvency, personal injury, and family legal services, while Lees Lloyd has also picked up instructions relating to the group's various commercial activities.

Bristol firm TLT has successfully retendered for the place on the Official Receiver's legal panel which deals with property transfer work - relating to people made insolvent - across the UK.

City firm Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw has acted for Australia's Flight Centre for the first time in the UK after winning a competitive tender.

Working in conjunction with Australian firm Blake Dawson Waldron, Mayer Brown advised on the UK aspects of Flight Centre's 45 million acquisition of Britannic Travel in London, represented by Linklaters.