“Working in-house I enjoy being fully embedded in project teams and also being an open and listening ear for clients. It helps build a great rapport with clients and ultimately allows me to achieve better outcomes for the Council.”

Jen Grigg – Business Partner (Senior Lawyer), Contracts and Commercial  

Our team 

The Contracts Team is a small, friendly, and supportive team comprising:

  • 1 Senior Lawyer/Business Partner
  • 2 part-time Lawyers
  • 1 Paralegal
  • 3 Admin Support colleagues

Our lawyers tend to focus on those areas of practice where they have experience, specialism, or interest, but there is no barrier to undertaking other areas of work, under supervision if necessary. We are supported by our wonderful paralegal and legal support officers who assist with all aspects of the team’s work.  

What we do for Dorset  

The team is unique in Legal Services in that it provides advice to officers across all 5 of the Council’s Directorates on all matters relating to contract and commercial.

This can include:

  • service contracts
  • partnership arrangements
  • alternative service delivery
  • grant agreements
  • procurement advice

This provides the opportunity to liaise with colleagues from many different disciplines and to support the Council’s work as a whole. We advise on matters big and small, from one-off pieces of advice to support on capital projects and alternative service delivery models and often provide advice to working groups and project boards. The team also provides contract and procurement advice to external clients, such as schools and academies.