Dixons Carphone’s first panel review since the £3.5bn merger of Carphone Warehouse and Dixons last year has selected 11 firms to provide the newly-merged company with legal advice and support, but has excluded the two firms which led advice on the merger. Both Linklaters and Osborne Clarke have lost their spots on the panel, while Freshfields has risen to become the company’s new chief legal advisor. According to reporting in The Lawyer, Freshfields’ close relationship with BT helped secure its mandate with Dixons Carphone, with former BT general counsel Nigel Paterson now at the helm of the consumer technology retail giant’s new legal department.

The company’s new 11-strong panel includes:

Addleshaw Goddard

Clyde & Co

DAC Beachcroft

Doyle Clayton

DLA Piper

Fieldfisher

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Pinsent Masons

Shoosmiths

Woofinden Legal

Worthingtons