Government lawyers have undergone an organisational change in recent years, according to Jonathan Jones, treasury solicitor and head of the Government Legal Service (GLS).
In an address to the Whitehall and Industry Group last week, Jones said the GLS handled about 30,000 cases between 2013 and 2014, covering topics ranging from Ebola to big rail projects.
The department now comprises most of the main Whitehall legal teams and has grown to more than 1800 people, including more than 1,300 lawyers.
Jones said the department now has a well-established litigation group, which takes on an increasing share of the government’s litigation, a specialist employment group and a specialist commercial law group. He said the new structure was enabling the department to “eliminate duplication and overlap”.
