Biography: Public Procurement

Dr Totis Kotsonis is of counsel based in Norton Rose's London office. He is a leading procurement lawyer recognised in legal directories as one of the best in the UK for public procurement. Totis has been described by legal directories as a 'procurement guru' who 'knows everything there is to know about public procurement' and who is recognised by clients as 'extremely efficient and co-operative' providing 'expert and pragmatic' advice on complex public procurement issues.

Totis is a core member of Norton Rose's international procurement practice, which has been recognised for its ability to provide practical and commercially focused advice, guiding clients through this difficult area of the law. The practice has been described in legal directories as 'particularly excellent'; 'offering straightforward, hands-on, solutions-oriented advice'; 'highly skilled'; 'able to put together a team that can absorb a lot of work in a short period of time' and 'prompt, great at teamwork and definitely value for money', while being recognised for giving 'consistently sound advice'.

Totis regularly advises public authorities, utilities and contractors on the wide spectrum of issues that may arise in the context of public procurement, including on all aspects of the competitive dialogue procedure, framework agreements and litigation. He has given advice in the context of major energy, ICT and PPP projects in the UK and abroad including for the purposes of litigation proceedings. He has recently advised, among others, The Crown Estate, UK central government bodies such as the Department of Health and the Department for Transport; local government authorities such as Eastleigh Borough Council, major utilities and infrastructure providers such as DP World (formerly P&O Ports), Geo (formerly Hutchison Network Services) and BritNed (a joint venture between National Grid and TenneT) and in the financial sector, Lloyd's, the leading insurance market. Other companies he has previously advised include Bouygues, Bombardier, Hochtief and South East Water.

Totis is a member of the editorial board of Public Procurement Law Review and a regular speaker at conferences and contributor to the legal press and journals. His articles have been considered by the European Commission and the UK government and have been referred to by judicial authorities. Totis has a thorough understanding of the public procurement remedies regime and has helped draft the responses of the Procurement Lawyers' Association (PLA) to the UK government's consultations on the implementation of the new remedies directive and the amendment of the general limitation period provisions applicable to public procurement law breaches .

Totis is a member of the PLA and has served on its steering committee. He has a PhD from the London School of Economics and worked in the public sector before joining Norton Rose in 2001.