Fifteen law firms in south Wales are to form an alliance with a set of chambers to bid for a criminal legal aid contract from the Legal Services Commission in the next contract round.

In what is believed to be the first initiative of its kind, the 15 firms will collaborate with Temple Chambers in Cardiff.

The only firm yet revealed to be part of the collaboration is Cardiff firm Lloyd Rowe, but the others have all signed up to the plan in principle.

The venture pre-empts the move by the Ministry of Justice to introduce competitive tendering for criminal defence contracts.

Ian Dodd, consultant to the chambers, explained that the model adopted differs from the ProcureCo idea suggested by the Bar Council as a method for chambers to collaborate with others in the provision of one-stop-shop legal services.

He said Temple Chambers will set up an incorporated limited company, Temple Law, limited by shares, not by guarantee (as in a ProcureCo).

The consortium of solicitors will also form a new legal entity, though details of that are yet to be finalised.

Dodd said: ‘The Bar Council’s ProcureCo model was a good starting point that has generated the discussion on the area, but other models are being used.’

One of the next steps, he said, is to find a regulator. ‘Whatever model you choose will have to be regulated. We have to find the regulator who will regulate appropriately.

‘We’re in discussions to find the right regulator, but due to the links with the bar, the Bar Standards Board will be our starting point.

'We hope to have fruitful discussions with them,’ he said.

Dodd said: ‘We haven’t discussed regulation with the solicitors yet, we are still exploring this.

'But the BSB or the Solicitors Regulation Authority would seem one of the natural homes.’

He added: ‘There is still a lot of hard work to be done and details to be ironed out.’

Dodd anticipated more similar ventures to start up along with other models and said he is already working with two others in different parts of the county.

Nick Lloyd, senior partner at Lloyd Rowe, said: ‘The MoJ’s comprehensive initiative on the reform of legal aid poses some challenging objectives and requires the legal profession to be innovative in its thinking.

‘By cooperating with Temple Chambers we believe that we can provide a more cost-efficient and targeted service to clients and ensure that access to justice is made as easy as it can be for those who require it.’

Head of Temple Chambers, Hilary Roberts added: ‘By combining litigation and advocacy within one operating legal entity we can eliminate the sometimes costly and time-consuming overlap between solicitors and barristers working on a case.

‘Covering the whole of south Wales also gives us the opportunity to deliver a consistent high quality to all of our clients.'