ODA appoints lawyers

The Olympic Delivery Authority has assembled a panel of lawyers to advise it as it oversees the 2012 building programme.

It has chosen five firms: Berwin Leighton Paisner, Clifford Chance, DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Pinsent Masons.

The ODA will consult the panel on issues including procurement, contract negotiation, planning, infrastructure, transport, utilities and human resources. The lawyers will work alongside the ODA's own internal legal team.

David Higgins, ODA chief executive, said the panel was needed because there was much potential for disputes on the 2012 programme: "We will have so many contractors and subcontractors on a very complex site, with limited access to site."

Morag Stuart, ODA head of procurement, said: "I am delighted with the calibre of the firms we have selected. They have a cross section of expertise and it is this breadth of experience which will be invaluable to the ODA over the lifetime of the project."

The law firms were chosen from a shortlist of 15 by a panel led by the ODA's interim finance director David Leather.