Wragge & Co understands local government and the public sector. With Sir Michael Lyons as non-executive director at the firm, the sector practice has a deeper insight when advising the largest of local authorities on the impact of government policy.

The 20-partner strong Local Government team is able to advise clients on a full range of matters, from large regeneration projects to HR and pensions advice and debt recovery and conveyancing. The team is led by former council leader Mark Greenburgh, who "absolutely, thoroughly understands local government law" (Legal 500 2011) and is "highly respected in local government circles" (Chambers 2012). It's one of only nine firms approved to advise public sector bodies on both the full commercial and major projects panels of Buying Solutions, the national procurement partner for UK public services.

The team includes experts in employment, regeneration, public procurement, private finance initiatives, pensions and strategic partnering. Highlights include advising on single-status and equal pay, flexible employment strategies, public-private partnerships in waste, leisure, schools and strategic services.

The team is known for its creative approach to precedents for local government finance and Right-to-Buy issues, and its conduct of equal pay claims. Bringing a fresh approach to the conduct of these politically sensitive cases alongside negotiation of new pay settlements with unions, the team combines strong project management skills with lateral thinking to expedite cases.

Its employment experts were crowned 'Employment team of the year' at The Lawyer Awards 2011. The award was based on the team's ground-breaking approach to working with Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council to come up with a solution for its pay and grading issues.

Clients, including more than 100 local authorities across England, are Birmingham City Council; Bristol City Council; Bromsgrove District Council; Croydon London Borough Council; Cambridge City Council; Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council; Exeter City Council; Guildford Borough Council; Hackney London Borough Council; Isle of Wight Council; Lincolnshire County Council; Milton Keynes Council; Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council; Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council and Wolverhampton City Council.

We also advise industry sector bodies such as the Improvement and Development Agency, the Local Government Association and Transport for London.

Julie Belvir, Croydon Borough Council solicitor and monitoring officer, has praised the team for 'thinking outside of the box' and commented that the firm demonstrates a very good understanding of its requirements.

Sarah Sasse leads on strategic services and IT partnering agreements including advising SCOITIM IT managers group while Mark Greenburgh leads the team and provides strategic HR advice across a range of employment issues. He is also vice-chair of the Advisory Panel on Beacons.

For credentials in central government, go to Central Government.

Contact Mark Greenburgh (mark_greenburgh@wragge.com) for more information on local government.