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It's hard to criticize the fee (enormous as it looks) without more information as to (a) the work required and (b) the rates charged. The work was "internal transfer of shares from the Department for Transport to the Treasury", which may have thrown up all sorts of considerations, as 'transfer' appears to have been within a single legal entity. Why else spend 40% of the total cost on preparation? Of more concern for the public purse is (i) the rates charged and (ii) whether anyone else could have done the same work for less, perhaps in conjunction with Government lawyers. On that second question, the article states that Freshfields' bid was 'the best' following a tender 'across a range of law firms.'

Without knowing more about the job in hand, and the tender process, it is impossible to appraise the process critically, beyond the suspicions voiced of City favours and City rates.