Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

We’ve been dealing with Nabarro for about seven years. They’ve provided a range of services to us over that time - advising on property matters, commercial litigation and also various forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR).

We are a Government Department. It is public money. We have obligations in terms of probity, propriety and value for money. So the quality of legal advice and guidance and the management of commercial litigation that we get from our external lawyers is, very important to us.

A number of the commercial disputes have been quite significant, notably the commercial litigation that has arisen out of the foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2001. The outbreak involved a huge amount of expenditure by government on goods, services and works - over £1.3bn - and very intense feelings all over the country.

Nabarro has represented the Department, in my view, with distinction. Both with regard to the outcomes that we have achieved and to the way that they conduct themselves professionally.

We want our lawyers to represent the Department to the best of their considerable professional ability. We also want to be given hard messages. We don’t want to be softsoaped. We want to be told the facts, the evidence. We want legal risk assessments which are bang on the button, against which we can with our legal team make informed judgements and decisions. That's very important for us.

The thing that we value greatly about Nabarro is not just that they are experienced lawyers in commercial litigation, they also act as an important interface with our counsel and leading counsel. It's very important that our instructing solicitors explain to us in terms that we understand the thinking of counsel and leading counsel on the factual, evidential and legal matrix. Nabarro listen to my concerns as a lay client and relate those concerns into a legal context. They are my intelligent interface.

The other aspect of professionalism that I value greatly in Nabarro is the ability to be well prepared and to operate a no-surprises culture.

As part of their legal risk assessment for me, Nabarro set out quite clearly the risks and benefits both of litigation and the various forms of alternative dispute resolution. They say when ADR is appropriate, when it may not be. Like all good lawyers they do not take you down the litigation path unless it is absolutely necessary. As one leading counsel puts it: litigation is a process where you get an outcome, and a very significant bill!!, but you may not get justice.

Nabarro manage disputes both strategically and tactically. I feel I always get good advice. They listen to my issues and concerns as a lay client but then they always come back to what the current thinking is in the judiciary, what the current case law is, what the litigation risk is. So they’re always thinking about the best approach to resolve the commercial dispute.

Nabarro has facilitated the Department safeguarding some very significant sums of money for the taxpayer.

My experience over 30 years is you just need to deal with the law firms and the lawyers in whom you have confidence. It’s just too much of a risk to be experimenting.

It also helps if you like the lawyers you're dealing with!

I have to say hand on heart that in the past seven years Nabarro has always done its best for Defra as a client.