Plesner's public procurement law team has extensive experience in advising both contracting authorities and tenderers on all aspects of EU and Danish public procurement law, including in relation to complex public procurement law issues.

Public procurement law is a highly dynamic area of law and both the public procurement law rules and case-law are constantly developing. This means that contracting authorities and tenderers must exercise great care when preparing tender documents and offers. It also places heavy demands on legal advisory services.

A highly specialised team

Plesner's public procurement law team is one of the most experienced teams in Denmark and is comprised of highly specialized partners, associates and economists with in-depth experience in all aspects of public procurement law, including from the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement and the Danish and European courts.

Gitte Holtsø is head of team. She started her career at the Danish Ministry of Justice, which included working as a deputy judge, and she has acted in several landmark cases, including cases brought before the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement. Hereby, she has built up valuable insight into both court and complaint processes, which brings significant benefits to the team when advising contracting authorities and tenderers in connection with complaints before the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement. Furthermore, she has been appointed as an expert judge of the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement and she is also a member of the Association of Danish Law Firms' expert committee on public procurement law.

Two of the team's associates have on several occasions been seconded to the public procurement law department at the energy company Ørsted, thereby gaining a great deal of commercial insight into and experience with both the practical, strategic and legal part of a tender procedure.

The team also includes Bo Vesterdorf, who has unique knowledge and experience from his time as former president of the General Court of the European Union. The General Court considers all complaints on tenders conducted by EU institutions. EU institutions are subject to almost identical public procurement law rules as contracting authorities in the Member States.

We advise on all matters relating to public procurement law

Plesner's public procurement law team has extensive experience in advising both contracting authorities and tenderers on all aspects of EU and Danish public procurement law, including in relation to complex public procurement law issues.

The team advises contracting authorities and tenderers within all industries, but particularly, the team has expertise in relation to tenders in the pharmaceutical and medical sector, tenders relating to large-scale infrastructure projects, tenders relating to building and constructing contracts, tenders relating to IT-contracts and tenders in the energy and supply sector. Accordingly, the team advises in both tenders pursuant to the Public Procurement Act, the Utilities Directive and all other procurement law rules.

Regardless of the nature and complexity of the tender, the team provide strategic and operational solutions, which work commercially and comply with the public procurement law rules.

Our assistance to contracting authorities typically includes:

  • Assessment of obligations to tender
  • Preparation of tender strategy, including selection of tender procedure and establishment of tender schedule
  • Preparation of tender documents or quality assurance of documents prepared by the authorities themselves
  • Execution of tenders, including project management
  • Preparation of and participation in negotiation meetings
  • Evaluation of applications for prequalification and offers
  • Handling of reservations in offers
  • Cases before the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement and the courts

Our assistance to tenderers typically includes:

  • Assessment of tender documents
  • Advice in relation to the preparation of the offer (offer strategy and offer optimization)
  • Quality assurance of offers
  • Preparation of and participation in negotiation meetings
  • Assessment of the tender's compliance with the relevant public procurement law rules
  • Request for access to file
  • Cases before the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement and the courts
  • Advice and representation of winning tenderers in connection with complaints against the tender and/or winning offer 

The team has in-depth expertise in handling cases brought before the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement and the courts and has assisted in several landmark cases.

In order to help keep our clients up-to-date on public procurement law matters, the team regularly arranges seminars, either as open seminars on new rules or case-law, or as client-specific workshops tailored for the client's particular needs.

Furthermore, the team regularly publishes short insights on new rules and case-law. Registration for our insights, which also ensures invitations to our seminars, can be made here

Valuable economic expertise

Economics is a fully integrated part of any public procurement process. Plesner's public procurement law team also consists of highly specialized economists, which ensure that our clients get thorough and in-depth advice in all public procurement law cases.

Contracting authorities is obliged to describe in the tender documents all parts of the evaluation model that the authority wishes to apply when evaluating the offers received. It must always be specifically assessed which model is the most suitable for identifying the most economically advantageous offer. The team assists choosing the most suitable model, including elucidating the advantages and disadvantages of different models in relation to the specific tender.

Tenderers have no influence on the evaluation model, but the model chosen by the contracting authority is important to the tenderers. Prior to submission of offers, the team assists tenderers understanding the model chosen by the contracting authority. After the contracting authority's tender evaluation, the team assists tenderers assessing whether the contracting authority has correctly applied the model described and whether it has been suitable for identifying the most economically advantageous offer.

Highlights


Advice to contracting authorities

  • Sund & Bælt Holding and its subsidiaries - advising on public procurement law matters related to the construction of the Femern Belt link between Denmark and Germany as well as various contracts related to the Great Belt link and the Oresund bridge
  • Finansiel Stabilitet - advising on public procurement law matters and execution of several tenders, inter alia, tenders for directors and offers' liability insurance and tenders for portfolio management, including preparation of relevant tender documents and assistance in relation to the evaluation of applications for prequalification and offers
  • Kalallit Airports - advising on public procurement law matters in relation to the construction of the new airports in Greenland and assistance in relation to the execution of several tenders related to the construction of the airports
  • Total (formerly Maersk Oil and Gas) - advising on public procurement law matters in relation to the redevelopment of the "Tyra Future" gas field in the North Sea
  • SEAS-NVE - advising on public procurement law matters, including the obligation to tender, and assistance in relation to the execution of tenders for energy saving contracts, including preparation of relevant tender documents and evaluation of applications for prequalification and offers
  • Fonden Amager Bakke - advising on public procurement law matters and execution of the unique tender for a concession agreement on the operation of the ski slope at the waste-to-energy plant, Amager Bakke, including preparation of relevant tender documents, evaluation of the applications for prequalification and offers and participation in negotiation meetings with the tenderers
  • Lokaltog - advising on public procurement law matters and execution of the tender for renovation of engines, including preparation of relevant tender documents and evaluation of applications for prequalification and offers
  • Metro Service - advising on public procurement law matters, including the obligation to tender, and assistance in relation to the execution of the tender for cleaning services, including the preparation of relevant tender documents and evaluation of applications for prequalification and offers
  • Copenhagen Airport - advising on public procurement law matters, including in relation to the airport's tender regarding IT outsourcing of Airport Traffic System (ATS) & Baggage Reconciliation System (BRS)
  • Movia - advising on various matters relating to evaluation models from both a legal and economic perspective 

Advice to tenderers

  • Alstom Transport Danmark - advising on public procurement law matters in relation to DSB's tender for a contract for new electric trains at an estimated value of DKK 50 billion
  • Deutsche Bahn - advising on public procurement law matters in relation to the tender by the Danish and Swedish transport authorities for the Oresund train services
  • Arriva - advising on public procurement law matters in relation to several Danish tenders for public bus and train services
  • Nokia Siemens Networks - advising on public procurement law matters in relation to Banedanmark's tender for a new digital communication system for the Danish railways
  • Solar Turbines Europe - advising on public procurement law matters, including in relation to foreign companies' documentation for not being caught by any grounds for exclusion
  • Baxter - advising on public procurement law matters in relation to participation in tenders, including on the interaction between the procurement rules and the regulatory rules
  • Pfizer - advising on public procurement law matters in relation to participation in tenders, including on the interaction between the procurement rules and the regulatory rules
  • GlaxoSmithKline - advising on public procurement law matters in relation to participation in tenders, including on the interaction between the procurement rules and the regulatory rules
  • Novartis Healthcare - advising on public procurement law matters in relation to participation in tenders, including on the interaction between the procurement rules and the regulatory rules
  • Bristol Myers-Squibb - advising on public procurement law matters in relation to participation in tenders, including on the interaction between the procurement rules and the regulatory rules

Complaints

  • Alstom Transport Danmark - assisted Alstom Transport Danmark in a landmark case before the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement, which found in favour of Alstom that DSB was obligated to request Alstom to replace a supporting entity that did not meet a minimum requirement, which ensured Alstom's continued participation in the tender
  • GLOCK - assisted GLOCK in a case brought before the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement in relation to the Danish Ministry of Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation's tender for a new gun to be used in the Danish defence. The Complaints Board found in favour of GLOCK and the decision led to the annulment of the award decision
  • Q8 International - securing a very rare decision by the Complaints Board for Public Procurement granting suspensory effect of a complaint, after which the contracting authority decided to cancel the tender
  • Berendsen Textil Service - assisted Berendsen in a case before the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement, which upheld Berendsen's claim that several violations of the procurement rules had been committed, which led to the annulment of the award decision
  • UC Plus - assisted UC Plus in a case before the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement securing a very rare decision on suspensive effect in a case where the contracting authority had set unreasonable, disproportionate and differentiated requirements for the financial performance of start-ups and established tenderers
  • Sanistål - assisted Sanistål in a case before the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement, in which the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement in its decision on suspensory effect agreed with Sanistål that several violations of the procurement rules had been committed, after which the contracting authority decided to annul the tender
  • Roche Diagnostics - securing a very rare decision by the Complaints Board for Public Procurement granting suspensory effect in a case where the contracting authority had failed to conduct a tender for a contract
  • MET 4 JV Cityringen - assisted MET 4 JV Cityringen in a case before the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement on behalf of a consortium of Danish and German contractors over Metroselskabet's tender for Metro Cityringen in Copenhagen, one of the largest construction contracts in Denmark with a total value of around EUR 3 billion
  • A/S Storebælt - assisted A/S Storebælt in a case before the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement dismissing a claim for compensation raised against A/S Storebælt
  • Movia - assisted Movia in a case before the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement in relation to a complaint about the tender for bus services on the harbour area in Copenhagen
  • Baxter - advising Baxter in connection with several complaints submitted against tenders won by Baxter, including preparation of written submissions in support of the contracting authority in the cases
  • GlaxoSmithKline - assisted GlaxoSmithKline in a case before the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement in relation to direct award of a contract in connection with the sale of the Government's vaccine production facilities
  • Novartis Healthcare - assisted Novartis in a case before the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement, who ruled in favour of Novartis, which led to the annulment of the award decision
  • Convatec - assisted Convatec in a case before the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement, who ruled in favour of Convatec

Ratings

  • Plesner is and has continuously for many years been ranked as leading (first tier, band 1, elite category) by Chambers, Legal500 and Global Competition Review.

                  

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