DLA Piper moots office closures as practice review kicks off
DLA Piper is moving forward with a root and branch review of its practice heralded by the arrival last year of global co-chairman Tony Angel.
Tony Angel
As reported by The Lawyer (26 October 2011), Angel’s arrival had been expected to kick off a period of increased focus on partner performance.
The former Linklaters managing partner was also expected to begin examining DLA Piper’s large office network with a view to slashing costs. That process is thought to include an assessment of whether certain offices could be downsized or closed altogether.
It was also expected to result in an increase of lower-value work being channelled to the alternative business structure LawVest, in which DLA Piper has a stake.
Earlier this year the firm’s backing of LawVest led to angry exchanges at DLA Piper when a number of partners, many understood to be from the regions, expressed their outrage over personal investments by individuals including co-chief executive Sir Nigel Knowles (1 March 2012).
With the review now understood to be underway, several of the firms UK regional offices including Liverpool, Leeds and Glasgow will be in the spotlight.
DLA Piper did not comment.
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Readers' comments (15)
Alright Lar | 3-Jun-2012 7:46 am
Liverpool looks doomed. Yes American chums there is an office 30 miles from Manchester.
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Anonymous | 5-Jun-2012 5:55 am
To suggest that the Leeds office "will be in the spotlight" just shows your total ignorance of the firm.
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jason | 6-Jun-2012 9:02 am
As a former and at the time very junior person at DLA it seems to me that things have changed at the Firm.
I recall when the London Office opened it was seen as an engine to drive the Firm as a whole forwards (US Mergers being a distant dream at the time) which would then allow the regional offices access to work which they wouldn't normally have. It now seems that because they themselves are possibly struggling for work, there isn't very much outflow from the London Office so consequently that workstream for the regional offices is maybe drying up.
Rather than the regions perhaps Big Tony should look closer to home and look at what London does and whether they are keeping hold of unprofitable work (in order to fill time) and which is having 2 effects - profitability generally will be lower, and secondly the regional offices will struggle with what i'm sure are ambitious targets and with one important workstream diminished. Still i suppose it's easier and less intellectually demanding to just close offices and save a few quid - as people usually say in these posts - you can only repeat that trick once.
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Anonymous | 6-Jun-2012 9:04 am
I cannot fathom why the Leeds office is included in this review (except to make up the numbers). For several years it has been one of the networks best performing offices (indeed there were rumours the partners might break away from the rest of DLA to seek greater profits).
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Anonymous | 6-Jun-2012 11:55 am
Leeds office won't be at risk...unlike the Sheffield office...
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Anonymous | 6-Jun-2012 1:40 pm
They will review all UK offices practice by practice and office by office. I suspect that the losers will be Glasgow, Liverpool, Sheffield and possibly Birmingham.
However their key weakness is London where they under-perform in the City practices of Finance and Corporate/M&A.
On the other hand their Real Estate practice is still bloated despite being restructured several times.
Interesting times ahead for DLA in the UK.
PS Alright Lar - There are a number of US offices in the same City . . .
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Anonymous | 6-Jun-2012 2:30 pm
Leeds has a stronger corporate market than Manchester. Surely the spotlight should be on Manchester?
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Anon | 6-Jun-2012 2:33 pm
The London office is sub scale for a firm of DLA's size and needs to grow market share. That should be the focus for the UK practice.
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Anonymous | 6-Jun-2012 2:41 pm
How is Nigey's investment doing?
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Anonymous | 7-Jun-2012 3:05 pm
As someone who spent 10 years at the firm throughout its key growth during the noughties, I find it staggering that the firm has not addressed the one office which is falling apart at the seams: London. Too many occasions of changes in personnel across disciplines and public in-fighting, as well as a "conveyor-belt" environment. The firm needs to concentrate on a period of true consolidation, in particular in London.
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