DLA Piper
Encyclopedia
DLA Piper is a global law firm
with 76 offices across 30 countries and more than 4,200 lawyers. As of May 2011, it was the largest law firm in the world by number of attorneys. The firm's global revenues were $1.92 billion in 2009-2010. The firm is composed of two partnerships, DLA Piper International, and DLA Piper U.S. The two partnerships share a single management board but are not financially integrated.
DLA Piper's clients range from multinational, Global 1,000 and Fortune 500 enterprises to emerging high-tech companies and start-ups, for which it operates a dedicated division for venture-capital placements.
DLA Piper's joint chief executive officers are Sir Nigel Knowles
and Lee Miller. The chairman of the firm's global board is Frank Burch.
-based Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich LLP, Chicago
-based Piper Rudnick LLP and London-based DLA LLP.
DLA itself had been the result of a mid-90s merger between three UK firms, Dibb Lupton Broomhead, Alsop Stevens, and Wilkinson Kimbers, while Piper Rudnick had been the product of a 1999 merger between Baltimore
-based Piper & Marbury and Chicago-based Rudnick & Wolfe. Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell
was DLA Piper's Chairman between 2003 and 2009.
, the Americas
, Asia
, Australasia
and Europe
:
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...
with 76 offices across 30 countries and more than 4,200 lawyers. As of May 2011, it was the largest law firm in the world by number of attorneys. The firm's global revenues were $1.92 billion in 2009-2010. The firm is composed of two partnerships, DLA Piper International, and DLA Piper U.S. The two partnerships share a single management board but are not financially integrated.
DLA Piper's clients range from multinational, Global 1,000 and Fortune 500 enterprises to emerging high-tech companies and start-ups, for which it operates a dedicated division for venture-capital placements.
DLA Piper's joint chief executive officers are Sir Nigel Knowles
Nigel Knowles
Sir Nigel Knowles is the current joint chief executive officer of the Anglo-American law firm DLA Piper.He was educated at the University of Sheffield, where he studied Law, and joined Broomhead & Neals as an articled clerk in 1978....
and Lee Miller. The chairman of the firm's global board is Frank Burch.
History
DLA Piper was formed in 2005 by a merger between three firms: San DiegoSan Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
-based Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich LLP, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
-based Piper Rudnick LLP and London-based DLA LLP.
DLA itself had been the result of a mid-90s merger between three UK firms, Dibb Lupton Broomhead, Alsop Stevens, and Wilkinson Kimbers, while Piper Rudnick had been the product of a 1999 merger between Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
-based Piper & Marbury and Chicago-based Rudnick & Wolfe. Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell
George J. Mitchell
George John Mitchell, Jr., is the former U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace under the Obama administration. A Democrat, Mitchell was a United States Senator who served as the Senate Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995...
was DLA Piper's Chairman between 2003 and 2009.
Offices
DLA Piper has 76 offices in 30 countries across AfricaAfrica
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
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