Barclays today completed the final formal review of its global Panel of legal firms, and in doing so marked the start of a new era in its management of legal suppliers. Having announced in March that the 2018 review would be the last, Barclays is now moving to an enhanced relationship model, based on active and on-going management of relationships with law firms.
The constituents of the current Panel have been notified in recent weeks, and will remain in place, subject to performance, for three years until 30 June 2021. During that period, and beyond, the new, more flexible relationship model will ensure that Panel firms are better positioned to deliver on Barclays' strategic objectives, on its legal needs and against a set of six clearly defined Expectations of Law Firms (Legal Advice; Thought Leadership; Collaboration & Teamwork; Value for Money; Diversity & Inclusion; Innovation).
While Barclays is not naming the firms appointed to its Panel, it can confirm that, having reduced the overall number at its last review in 2016, it has again trimmed the number of legal firms with which it will engage. However, the new approach allows for greater flexibility in managing the size and composition of the Panel, and firms can be added and removed as appropriate.
"The key words behind the new framework are 'partnership' and 'innovation'. We want to incentivise the firms we work with to help us achieve our strategic objectives, and one of the ways we want to do this is by collectively developing new ways of working and addressing the challenges we face.