Firm Profiles
IN-DEPTH RESEARCH REPORT
on DLA Piper
- - Financial Information
- - Compensation
- - Billing Rates
- - Lateral Partner Moves
- - Pro bono
- - Key Contacts
DLA Piper
- Designation: Verein
- Head Count: 4,036
- Gross Revenues: $2,440,500,000
- Revenue Per Lawyer: $605,000
- Profits Per Partner: $1,310,000
- Year Over Year Change: 1
Today’s DLA Piper is a nearly 4,000 lawyer behemoth but before it was big it was gleams in the eyes of partners in firms that were the pride of Baltimore, Maryland (Piper Marbury) and Yorkshire, England (Broomhead & Neals). They set off on an astonishing two–decade run of combinations and mergers that culminated in a landmark, trans–Atlantic, three–way maneuver in 2005 which put together DLA Piper. Since then, except for the post–Lehman recession, the firm’s appetite for growth has rarely slowed. It is one of the industry’s biggest proponents of lateral hiring, picking up 87 new partners in 2011 (the most of any Am Law 100 firm). And it expanded via merger once again that year, acquiring its Australian ally, DLA Phillips Fox, and boosting its presence in the Asia–Pacific region (DLA Piper is structured as a Swiss verein, in which the U.S. and international arms maintain separate finances; The Am Law 100 survey reflects full global figures).
Not that DLA Piper misses much territory: It has 77 offices in 31 countries, including seven in the Middle East alone. Latin America has been a recent focal point for growth; the firm opened a Miami office in 2011 to serve as a base of operations, followed by the opening of a Mexico City office in early 2012.
As one might expect from a firm that has enough attorneys to populate a small town, DLA has a wide–ranging practice, though M&A work and litigation are particular strengths (indeed, the firm was a finalist in 2010 in The American Lawyer’s Product Liability Litigation Department of the Year competition). It has also been a leader on the pro bono front, placing twenty–fourth of 200 firms on our 2011 Pro Bono Report (the firm’s attorneys averaged more than 82 hours a year of volunteer legal work). DLA rates above–average scores on diversity, as well, finishing fifty–third of 194 firms on the magazine’s 2011 survey (more than 15 percent of U.S.–based lawyers are minorities).
Faring less well is associate satisfaction: DLA placed near the bottom of the pack on The American Lawyer’s 2010 Midlevel Asso?ciates Survey (124th of 137 firms), and saw only a modest improvement in 2011 (ninety–ninth of 126 firms). No doubt contributing to the less–than–stellar morale were the multi–round associate layoffs the firm conducted during the recession. Within DLA’s U.S. offices, 101 junior lawyers were let go in 2009 alone.
—Updated as of 1/1/12
Firm Rankings
| Survey | Rank | Year Over Year Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Am Law 100 | 1 | 1 | Gross revenue |
| Am Law 200 | 1 | 1 | Gross revenue |
| NLJ 250 | 2 | no change | Lawyer head count |
| The A-List | NR | N/A | Overall excellence |
| Pro Bono Scorecard | 24 | 2 | Pro-bono commitment |
| Diversity Scorecard | 57 | 4 | Minority head count |
| Midlevel Associates Survey | 99 | 25 | Job satisfaction |
| Summer Associates Survey | 42 | 28 | Summer programs |
In the News
Rajah & Tann in Indonesian Alliance
Jessica Seah : The Asian Lawyer : May 3, 2013
Singapore's largest firm has entered into a non-exclusive deal with Jakarta's Assegaf Hamzah & Partners.
DLA Piper Enters Indonesian Alliance
Jessica Seah : The Asian Lawyer : May 3, 2013
DLA Piper has entered into a strategic alliance with Indonesia's Ivan Almaida Baely & Firmansyah Law Firm. Foreign law firms are not permitted to have offices in Indonesia or practice Indonesian law, so several international firms have sought tie-ups with local firms to have an on-the-ground presence in one of the fastest-growing economies in the region.
The Churn: Lateral Moves in The Am Law 200
Diane Jeantet : The Am Law Daily : May 3, 2013
Littler Mendelson hires another batch of attorneys from Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart; Kaye Scholer adds a former New York State Supreme Court justice to its litigation practice; and Davis Wright Tremaine picks up three attorneys. The Churn is constant. Please send all announcements to thechurn@alm.com.
VOLS Firms Meet Pro Bono 2012 Pledge
Bill Lienhard : New York Law Journal : May 3, 2013
Lebanese Banks Turn to Lobbying Powerhouses for Reputation Repair
Andrew Ramonas : The National Law Journal : May 3, 2013
When Lebanon's bankers turned to DLA Piper and Patton Boggs for help last year, they hoped the firms could burnish the image of a $127 billion industry tainted by allegations of money laundering for terrorists and drug dealers. Instead, two Lebanese financial institutions last month were hit with U.S. Treasury Department sanctions for purportedly aiding Hezbollah.
Hong Kong High Court Dismisses Mogul's Libel Suit
Jessica Seah : The Asian Lawyer : May 2, 2013
The Hong Kong High Court has dismissed a libel suit filed by the chairman of City Telecom (HK) Ltd., Hong Kong's second-largest broadband Internet service provider, against a local business newspaper that allegedly misquoted him in a way that depicted him as arrogant and disparaging toward a potential business competitor.
DLA Piper Enters Indonesian Alliance
Jessica Seah : The Asian Lawyer : May 2, 2013
The international firm has linked up with Jakarta's Ivan Almaida Baely & Firmansyah Law Firm.
Firm's Arguments 'Not Enough' to Show Cybersquatting
Christine Simmons : New York Law Journal : May 2, 2013
In a decision finding premature a law firm's attempt to prove a computer programmer violated a cybersquatting law, a Southern District of New York judge laid out the standards of proof under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act.
Looking for Top Law Firms' Compliance Programs
Sue Reisinger : Corporate Counsel : May 2, 2013
In light of our recent looks at corporate compliance programs, CorpCounsel.com thought it would be enlightening to check out how top law firms handle compliance issues. The results were surprising.
Gross Revenue: A New Number One
: The American Lawyer : May 1, 2013
- Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
- Allen & Overy
- Andrews Kurth
- Ashurst
- Bancroft
- Bingham McCutchen
- Bracewell & Giuliani
- Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft
- Chadbourne & Parke
- Chavez & Gertler
- Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
- CMS Cameron McKenna
- Covington & Burling
- Crowell & Moring
- Davis Polk & Wardwell
- Denton Wilde Sapte
- Dewey & LeBoeuf
- DLA Piper
- Downey Brand
- Duane Morris
- Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge
- Edwards Wildman Palmer
- Freehills
- Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
- Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson
- Fulbright & Jaworski
- Goulston & Storrs
- Herbert Smith
- Hogan Lovells
- Holland & Knight
- Husch Blackwell
- Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro
- Jones Day
- K&L Gates
- Katten Muchin Rosenman
- Keker & Van Nest
- Kilpatrick Townsend
- King & Spalding
- Kirkland & Ellis
- Kutak Rock
- Lathrop & Gage
- Lewis and Roca
- Linklaters
- Locke Lord
- Loeb & Loeb
- Manatt, Phelps & Phillips
- McDonald Hopkins
- Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy
- Minter Ellison
- Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
- Morrison & Foerster
- Munger, Tolles & Olson
- Norton Rose
- O'Melveny & Myers
- Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
- Patton Boggs
- Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
- Porter & Hedges
- Proskauer Rose
- Reed Smith
- Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck, Untereiner & Sauber
- Ropes & Gray
- Shearman & Sterling
- Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton
- Sidley Austin
- Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
- Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
- Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal
- Squire, Sanders & Dempsey
- Stephenson Harwood
- Steptoe & Johnson LLP
- Sullivan & Cromwell
- Sullivan & Worcester
- Susman Godfrey
- Thompson Hine
- Ulmer & Berne
- Vladeck, Waldman, Elias & Engelhard
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
- White & Case
- Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon
- Williams & Connolly
- Willkie Farr & Gallagher
- Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
