Online Legal Research Services

Description

AI research module for the South London Legal Partnership (SLLP).

Key facts

Procedure

Direct award

Lots

1

Contact

commercial.services@merton.gov.uk

Contract period

1 Dec 2026 → 30 Nov 2028

Value incl. VAT

£303k

Category

services

Awarded suppliers

• Thomson Reuters · GB-PPON-PGZB-9229-GXTT · UKI42, GB

Ground given for limiting competition

The buyer’s own stated reason for awarding without open competition, as published. Their assertion, not a finding.

The Contracting Authority intends to award a two-year contract (1st December 2026 to 30th November 2028) to Thomson Reuters UK Limited, with an estimated value of £302,781 excluding VAT, for the provision of online legal research services, including Westlaw, Practical Law and the integrated Co-Counsel AI research module, for the South London Legal Partnership (SLLP). The award is being made pursuant to Section 41 and Schedule 5, Paragraph 6 of the Procurement Act 2023. Competition is absent for technical reasons and due to the protection of exclusive rights. Thomson Reuters holds exclusive intellectual property, proprietary and distribution rights for Westlaw, Practical Law and the Sweet & Maxwell suite of legal publications, commentaries, encyclopaedias and precedents relied upon by SLLP. The integrated Co-Counsel module is also a proprietary AI tool that draws exclusively from verified legal sources within the Thomson Reuters platform. The Contracting Authority has confirmed that no reasonable alternative or substitute exists, supported by benchmarking across the 30 London boroughs within the London Boroughs Legal Alliance (LBLA). Given the breadth of SLLP's legal work across child social care, education and litigation, no alternative provider can offer the same combination of proprietary legal content, specialist resources, authoritative commentary and integrated AI-enabled research capabilities. Thomson Reuters UK Limited is therefore the only supplier capable of meeting the Authority's requirements.