DLA sets out to be top five in Europe

DLA has announced that it intends to become one of the top five full-service European law firms within the next five years.`The strategy was launched on the back of DLA's annual results, which saw turnover increase by 26 per cent to £175m and profits per partner by 35 per cent to £395,000.`Managing partner Nigel Knowles puts much of the success down to the expansion of DLA & Partners. In the last financial year it has announced the membership of Schut & Grosheide in the Netherlands, De Berti Jacchia Perno & Associati in Italy, Görg in Germany and Lindh Stabell Horten in Scandinavia. Although the five-year target is ambitious, Knowles is confident that DLA can achieve it.`"We'll exploit the full-service element," he says. "There's no point in having a strategy like Clifford Chance or Freshfields, which advise the investment banks. Instead we'll target the European corporates."