DLA slashes Middle East headcount by nine per cent
Related images
DLA Piper has cut nine per cent of its Middle East workforce in a second round of job cuts in the region.
A total of 22 people including one partner, eight fee earners and 13 support staff have been cut from across the firm’s offices in the region, with Dubai experiencing about a third of the total job losses.
A spokesperson confirmed that notice periods varied on a case by case basis according to “the contractual situation”.
Transactional practice areas including corporate, finance and projects and real estate have been most heavily affected by the cuts.
Regional managing partner David Church commented: “Unfortunately, staffing adjustments across the Middle East are unavoidable as the market is still impacted by the global downturn.
“We have conducted a review to realign resources with current demand and have reduced our staff levels across the region by nine per cent. This is a difficult decision and we regret the impact it’ll have on our people, who we’ll be given support and assistance to help them through this transition.”
This follows on from the loss of eight per cent of DLA Piper’s Middle East fee-earning workforce in April this year (3 April 2009).
View results 10 per page | 20 per page | 50 per page
Readers' comments (40)
Amstradamus | 18-Jun-2009 4:46 pm
Sir Knowlesey's humungous sword is not gonna save him this time, no.
Soon there will be an army of unemployed DLA associates, thirsting for his blood.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Concerned | 18-Jun-2009 9:57 pm
As has been noted previously in DLA news comments on this site, DLA have a fatally flawed business model. Especially in the Middle East, where it has failed big time. It will fail elsewhere in time.
The number of DLA cvs (partner and associate) on the market over the passed 12 months has been "eye watering" and "jaw dropping".
The personal stories involved here will be tragic.
Other regional firms planing "global domination" need to heed the lessons of DLA mismanagement and uncontrolled egotism.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 19-Jun-2009 2:36 pm
I very much doubt any of the leavers will be given any support or assistance at all to help with this difficult time. After all, why would DLA change the habits of a life time?
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 21-Jun-2009 11:29 pm
The true figures of job losses at DLA are a lot lot higher that those reported - in the UK, Europe and in the Middle East. They are trying to save face.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 23-Jun-2009 7:47 am
As stated above the true figures are a LOT higher..
Especially when you consider that many many of the remaining staff are working reduced weeks and up to 20 % of the fee earners are on voluntary 'sabbatical' on a very small percentage of salary with no guarantee of a job at the end of it.
So even on the figures as stated by DLA that has to be around 50% of staff who are not sitting at their desks today compared to this time last year.
And many staff have simply resigned being unwilling to commit to long term leases when faced with such uncertainty and DLA certainly aren't counting those in their figures.
Well done Knowles and Church.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 23-Jun-2009 1:38 pm
Sadly the DLA debacle in the Middle East was all too predictable.The firm under-researched the market and pursued a finger-in-the-wind strategy. Many other major firms were in the region, why not DLA?
The expansion was mandated by a tiny coterie of highly-paid partners who felt no need to take professional management advice. They failed to heed the lessons of DLA's past experience in Asia where it was an early entrant to the Hong Kong market but consistently lost ground to later arrivals: having an expensive office does not mean you will get worthwhile business.
The saddest part is the toll of misery of those who uprooted themselves from good jobs to follow the DLA pied piper and who are now forced on to the job market at the worst possible time.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Concerned | 23-Jun-2009 10:12 pm
The last two posts from Anonymous have it.
One suspects DLA's bank debts are staggering. Their key clients in the ME region are bust and their expansion was based on that funny idea that prices always go up.
That the leaders of this firm have in the past drawn praise is extraordinary.
Anicdotal evidence is that people hired into the ME by DLA as recently as 8 months ago are now being axed, seduced by the "fairy tale" spin of this unrealistic business model to leave their home countries and social security safety nets to relocate to places where there is none. The personal stories involved here are likely to be tragic.
One could say that they have only themselves to blame, but in reality Church and Knowles are the ones who should have known better.
But greed blinded the "leaders" then. Hopefully now their eyes are open, although that is doubtful as their personal ambition have always trumped the lives and careers of others, who they see as dispensable tokens on their personal path to riches, glory and honours.
A shocking state of affairs.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 24-Jun-2009 6:14 am
The DLA debacle is such that the under-performing and over-paid continue to persist and be rewarded whilst the life blood of the firm is sucked dry and cast off. Common sense must dictate that killing off the green shoots to leave the dead wood has to be an unsustainable strategy in the short, medium and long term.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 25-Jun-2009 2:10 am
DLA has done a grave disservice to the young, ambitious lawyers who gave up good jobs and left their homes for the MIddle East, and who now find themselves looking for jobs in a terrible market.
A lot of this is the result of bad management. Why is David Church still there?
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 25-Jun-2009 7:10 pm
The real number of the people that have been "sacked" to preserve the ridiculously undeserved pay packets of a few very average but very rich equity partners is much much higher than that reported. Why doesn't the lawyer etc actually get their hacks to do some proper research and do some proper reporting rather than rely on pathetic press release spins from DLiAr.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment