New Education Contract Secures National Ranking

A Cumbria law firm this week secures third place ranking in the national league table of legal advisers to the further education sector.

The employment law team of Burnetts Solicitors, Carlisle has been awarded a three year contract to provide legal advice to Sandwell College.  The West Midlands College has over 15,000 students and employs more than 800 staff.

Burnetts were awarded the contract, which will begin on January 1st 2006, following a fiercely competitive formal tender process. 

Burnetts Senior Partner, John Morris is himself a nationally recognised authority on employment law. He said, "Burnetts has built up a strong reputation for its employment expertise and is now one of the top three legal firms in England for advising the further education sector."

"Because of the number of staff they employ, most colleges need a robust team of employment lawyers for support and advice so we were successful because we had such relevant expertise - our education clients often call upon us, not only for employment disputes and training, but also for drafting contracts to the standards needed for specialist areas such as compliance with Articles of Government."

"One of the other key factors in our success was that we were able to provide excellent references from other colleges and universities. We have been purposefully targeting the education sector and we are delighted to be able to end the year with such a great achievement."

Burnetts Employment department includes Partners, John Morris and Kuba Strycharzyk, Associate Solicitors, Joanne Stronach and Natalie Ruane and Assistant Solicitor Tracy Stainton.

Burnetts currently advises 10 colleges of further education and holds the number three position in the Further Education Sector Legal Adviser rankings behind national giants, Eversheds and Birmingham's Martineau Johnson. The tables are produced by Caritas Data for their annual Further Education Financial Yearbook.

Note to editor:

Further details of education sector, adviser rankings can be found at
www.furthereducation-online.com.

20th December, 2005