DLA Piper puts 251 in consultation across UK as firm mulls Glasgow closure
DLA Piper has put 251 staff in consultation in one of the biggest rounds of redundancies yet in the UK legal market’s recent spate of layoffs.
Tony Angel
The firm has confirmed it is considering closing its Glasgow office, its defendant insurance practice and bringing into one place its document production unit following a review of its UK operations.
It follows the hire of Tony Angel as senior partner late last year (26 October 2011), with the former Linklaters managing partner carrying a review of the UK business aimed at cutting out wastage (1 June 2012).
A DLA Piper spokesperson said in a statement: “Following a comprehensive review of our UK business designed to ensure that we are operating in a manner, in the locations, and across the practice areas that support both our strategic objectives and the needs of our clients, we have begun a period of consultation in the UK that will consider the possible closure of our Glasgow office, the closure or divestment of our defendant insurance practice and the consolidation into one location of our current multi-site document production unit.”
The consultation process puts 116 jobs at risk in document production, plus 85 employees in Glasgow and a further 50 in defendant insurance, totalling 227.51 full-time equivalent jobs.
A detailed plan of the exercise released by the firm states that the consultation in the defendant insurance, document production and Glasgow units will begin on 28 November and completed “early in the new year”.
It also highlights an “enhanced scheme that will be discussed with employee representatives” as the redundancy package and says there could be staff transfers to Edinburgh.
The plan for the defendant insurance unit is a going concern transfer, while the process in the document production unit could see employees transferred to Leeds, where the firm says vacancies will be available.
The firm said: “We are establishing a consultation forum which enables the DPU [document production unit] teams in all offices to participate in the consultation process as we believe it is fairer for all DPU teams to be extended the same privileges, irrespective of numbers.”
The exercise does not include trainees, the firm also confirmed.
The news follows a string of redundancies among leading UK firms, with Lawrence Graham (9 November 2012), Pinsent Masons (8 November 2012) and Pannone (12 November 2012) all announcing consultation rounds in the past week.
For more on Tony Angel and DLA Piper, see feature
DLA Piper’s consultation exercise in full
| | | | Heads | FTE |
| Defendant Insurance | Partners | 4 | 3.6 | |
| | Fee Earners | 27 | 24.96 | |
| Business Support | 19 | 16.39 | ||
| | Total | 50 | 44.95 | |
| | | | | |
| Document Production - Birmingham | Business Support | 11 | 10.86 | |
| Document Production - Edinburgh | Business Support | 10 | 8.68 | |
| Document Production -Glasgow | Business Support | 11 | 8.62 | |
| Document Production -Leeds | Business Support | 23 | 20.98 | |
| Document Production - Liverpool | Business Support | 13 | 11.16 | |
| Document Production -London | Business Support | 20 | 18.26 | |
| Document Production - Manchester | Business Support | 14 | 13.21 | |
| Document Production -Sheffield | Business Support | 14 | 12.34 | |
| Total | 116 | 104.11 | ||
| | | | | |
| Glasgow | Partner | 10 | 10 | |
| | Fee earners | 25 | 23.3 | |
| Business Support | 50 | 45.15 | ||
| | Total | 85 | 78.45 | |
| | Overall Total | 251 | 227.51 |
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Readers' comments (62)
Anonymous | 14-Nov-2012 4:00 pm
Seems to be a few DLA Sheffield'ers talking the place up. Hope Mr Angel is reading!
Lets not forget offices don't mange clients, partners do.
Slot those partners into other offices and the client moves too. History is sentimentality and there's none of that there. If Sheffield is such a crucial hub why not put the central DP there too in the space to be left by the insurance team?
The ravens/rats, whose departure to another city would be the death knell are the army of accountants!
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Anonymous | 14-Nov-2012 7:33 pm
As a client of DLA's I attended their Skyfall Premiere evening in Scotland only week's ago, rather indulgent for a firm that knew it was about to take such a drastic step. Very disappointing to see such a lack of commitment to their Scottish clients.
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Anonymous | 14-Nov-2012 7:40 pm
Does anyone know how this plan could affect a student who has been offered a training contract with the firm to commence in 2014 in Scotland...?
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Anonymous | 14-Nov-2012 7:49 pm
After giving almost a quarter of a century to this firm I find it very offensive to be referred to by Mr Angel as "wastage". DP techs are highly trained and skilled and provide much more than a typing service. I hope he has a nice comfortable Christmas with his £2million remuneration package (which would probably cover the salaries of all DP techs at risk) while we now have a Christmas full of doubt. I hope he chokes on his Turkey!
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Where the axe won't fall | 14-Nov-2012 9:04 pm
London and Birmingham may be the basket cases but can anybody see DLA closing either?
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Anonymous | 14-Nov-2012 11:28 pm
I'm another ex DLA person, several years back I had a similar experience to the current crop of redundacies. They offered me another job, I told them to shove it where the sun doesn't shine. Oh, one other thing ... Leeds? International business centre eh? lol.
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Anonymous | 15-Nov-2012 9:52 am
DLA is looking increasingly like a firm that wants as many flags as it can possibly plant to be planted in emerging markets around the world. Nothing wrong in that. However there are some anomolies like the two offices in both Yorkshire and "Lancashire", along with two in Baltimore and three in greater San Diego (!!!!). Doubtless those offices serve specific purposes, but in the longer term the firm clearly has global ambitions andthe firm probably sees a future with multiple offices in China rather than having four along the M62 corridor (Sheffield being just 30 or so miles south of the M62!).
Whilst regional offices have a future for now, as another poster suggests, there is as slow yet steady march of Partners who are leaving the Northern offices for firms who might better appreciate their talents,as is witnessed by the recent resignation of a team of for Real Estate partners in Manchester.
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Anonymous | 15-Nov-2012 3:09 pm
So that's it! That's the great strategic plan that Mr 'Man with a Plan' Angel has been slaving over? With respect, a sixth form business studies student with access to a map, a basic understanding of P&Ls and a fair dollop of nous could have devised this one in double quick time. The more pressing issue is what happens to the suits responsible for strategy? -
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Anonymous | 15-Nov-2012 4:30 pm
I am one of these DP technicians up for redundancy. I cannot believe the way in which we are being treated. The closure of DP units across the board is going to be a disaster and backfire big time! Maybe Mr Angel could spend a week in a unit to see EXACTLY what goes on and how much DP are relied on especially out of hours and then he might reconsider, although I feel the decision has already been made!!
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Anonymous | 15-Nov-2012 8:19 pm
Having witnessed the aftermath of these cuts this week and the distress it has caused, I am disgusted at how Senior Management of the firm have failed to even acknowledge what is going on. They have left their UK Managing Partner to communicate the news and Tony Angel is as invisible as always. Nigel Knowles even had the distaste to do an update blog on Africa the day after the news was announced!
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