International firm Pinsent Masons is to become main legal adviser to energy supplier E.ON UK under a five-year fixed-fee deal, the company announced today.

Under a deal described as a first for the energy sector, E.ON’s UK legal function will reduce its roster of legal advisers to one. An in-house team will continue to carry out ‘a significant proportion’ of work. 

Graham Line, Head of UK Legal at E.ON UK, said: ‘We want to deliver a high-quality, high-value service to the business, and Pinsent Masons demonstrated through their approach and knowledge of the sector that they are the right partner to achieve that.’

Jonathan Fortnam, a partner at Pinsent Masons who led on the deal, said that the partnership is the second ‘sole provider’ arrangement struck by Pinsent Masons this year. In March the firm announced that it had won a mandate to service much of Balfour Beatty’s predictable legal work in the UK.

Richard Masters, head of client operations at Pinsent Masons said: ‘We recognise that innovation is about more than finding ways to make an old model fit the new world, and are delighted that several of our clients have responded positively to our proposals to move the emphasis firmly away from the billable hour.’