About NWL Legal

NWL Legal was born out of the in-house legal services team of North West Leicestershire District Council. We now provide legal advice to a range of organisations, including other local authorities and external clients in the further education sector, and our success can be measured by the continued growth of our client base.

We have held Lexcel accreditation – the Law Society’s practice management quality mark – since 2009, and are proud to have retained the accreditation since. We operate a highly effective and fully secure practice management system, which means client data is at our fingertips and we can provide you with the most up to date position on your project in seconds.

Our lawyers are rightly proud of their ability to help clients achieve their desired outcomes, and in their drive to find new and innovative ways to support that work. Clients find us to be approachable and professional, and you will find we complete your project on time, in a friendly and efficient manner.

As well as a commitment to providing quality advice to our clients, we strive to be a responsible legal services provider that contributes to the local community.

As a Legal Team it is really important to us to deliver an efficient and effective service for officers across the Council in need of legal support.  We have reviewed our service standards to help making them fit for purpose, reflect how we work in practice and more user friendly.

The service standards set out things such as the availability of the team and how quickly we will respond to requests for advice.

The next generation

As part of our commitment to our community, we have provided placements to students of Stephenson Studio School in Coalville, giving them valuable hands-on experience of the world of work and local government.

Team members have participated in the mentoring of post graduate law students at DeMontfort University and regularly provide pro-bono supervision of the student law clinics.

Through our work with the university, we have a permanent internship on offer to current students. The placement provides practical legal experience in a commercial environment and helps students apply their academic learning to the real world.

“Natalie’s placement at NWLDC has clearly been of tremendous benefit to her studies on the Legal Practice Course. The placement has helped Natalie put into practice what she has learned on the course. In addition she has been able to feed her experiences into the group and demonstrate how the course is relevant to the real world. She is now extremely confident with her oral presentations skills and I think that the placement has, in no small part, contributed to this.”
Vaughan Hall, Senior Lecturer Faculty of Business and Law, De Montfort University.

We have also provided work experience placements for other employees within the council who are considering a career in the law, as well as providing similar opportunities for lawyers in private practice firms to gain an insight into public sector law on a day to day basis.

Our Green Footprint

Since 2010, we have operated a paper-light office, thanks to the implementation of our secure electronic case management system and our Lexcel accreditation. The introduction of electronic files saw the use of paper reduce by 34% in the first year.

Working innovatively with the private sector

We know there are benefits to be gained from working with colleagues in the private sector, and the team has formed close working relationships with several private firms in the midlands. All have gained real tangible benefits from this relationship.

We have worked closely with Browne Jacobson in Nottingham and Shakespeares in Leicester in recruiting quality candidates and supporting them to provide a high level of service to our clients. Combining our public sector knowledge with the commercial drive of the private sector, we have a team able to offer practical commercial advice, tailored to the needs of our public sector clients.

“The result is an office which, in my opinion, has much more of an independent legal practice feel about it rather than that of a local government department, which in my long experience of acting for many local authorities, is a rare commodity indeed.”
Simon Stanion, Partner, Shakespeares LLP.