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Competition to refresh the Attorney General's Civil Regional Panel Counsel A, B and C panels is now open.

The Attorney General is seeking to appoint new members to the Regional A, B and C panels, to undertake civil work for government departments.

Membership of the Regional Panels is open to barristers and solicitors with the appropriate qualifications.

Regional A Panel

Members of this panel deal with the most complex cases. Those previously appointed to the A panel have generally had in excess of 10 years advocacy experience (from end of 2nd six months’ pupillage for barristers, date of commencement of advocacy for solicitors).

Regional B Panel

Members of this panel deal with substantial cases but not in general as complex as those handled by the A panel. They will generally be instructed where knowledge and experience of a particular field is required. Those previously appointed to the B panel have generally had between 5 and 10 years advocacy experience.

Regional C Panel

Members of this panel will be expected to have at least 2 years’ experience. Those appointed to the C panel will often (but not exclusively) provide the A and B panel members of the future and so should have the potential to join the A panel.

In choosing which of the panels to apply to candidates will want to make a careful decision based on which best suits their level of expertise and experience.

Appointments will be for 5 years.

The Attorney General is looking for applicants with experience in general public and administrative law; employment; or personal injury. For the 2022 exercise, the Attorney is also looking to deepen the capacity of the panels by appointing specialists in the following areas:

• Administrative Law
• Charity/Trusts
• Clinical negligence
• Construction
• Contracts, Partnerships and Commercial Law in general (including private international law aspects)
• Costs (including routine and/or mass group litigation experience)
• Customs control – customs duties and other customs matters
• Defamation
• Education
• Employment
• Energy/Utilities
• Family and Children’s Law
• Health and social care including medicines ethics and mental health
• Immigration
• Industrial Diseases
• Industrial Relations
• Inquests
• Insolvency
• Intellectual Property
• Land and Planning/Environmental
• Pensions
• Personal Injury
• Proceeds of Crime
• Procurement
• Professional regulation
• Property (including Landlord and Tenant)
• Public Law
• Rating and Valuation
• Restitution
• Social Security, including free movement, social justice and statutory payments
• Tax Work – Direct and Indirect, Personal and Business
• Trade including Competition, State Aid & subsidies, international arbitration, shipping
• VAT and Duties, including VAT fraud

The Attorney General is also looking to appoint applicants capable of advising departments on the interface of public and commercial law issues, and also where criminal or regulatory issues arise in public law cases.

Application

For detailed information about the application process please familirise yourself with the Information for candidates (ODT, 49.3 KB) pack and the Frequently Asked Questions (ODT, 48.6 KB).

To make an application or to register your interest, please email panelcounsel@governmentlegal.gov.uk.

Once you have registered you will be provided with a link to access our online portal to obtain the full application pack.

Completed applications must be submitted by noon on Thursday 13 October 2022.

Further information and our mentoring scheme

If you have any queries, please feel free to raise them in the first instance with the Government Legal Department Panel Counsel Secretariat via email panelcounsel@governmentlegal.gov.uk

We wish to encourage applications from as wide a range as possible of those eligible to apply. We will endeavour to put advocates who are considering applying and who want to discuss the application process in touch with an established Panel member. The mentor will discuss the application process, eligibility criteria and the presentation of relevant information on the application form.

If you are considering applying and would like a mentor please contact the Panel Counsel Secretariat via email: panelcounsel@governmentlegal.gov.uk on or before Friday 30 September 2022.