DLA's turnover defies slowdown

Despite the economic slowdown DLA posted a gross fee income of £203m and profits per partner of £457,000, amounting to a 15.3 per cent turnover rise and a 16 per cent hike in profits.
Managing partner Nigel Knowles said that DLA had survived the slowdown by focusing on international alliance DLA & Partners (D&P), client relationships and lateral hiring.
Since 1 January 2001, DLA has taken on 34 partners and won a series of clients including Virgin, Airtours, Ebookers and Telewest. "We didn't run around like headless chickens but instead looked at the environment and responded in a positive way," said Knowles.
"We found recruits in the marketplace from firms which hadn't responded to the economic slowdown well. We saw this as a way to expand and respond positively," he added.
Earlier this year, DLA announced its vision for 2002-2005, which is to be a top-five European full-service law firm with a significant presence in Asia. It has also started the integration process of D&P and in January merged with Belgian alliance firm Price & Partners.
When D&P was set up, there were just four members based in the UK, Belgium, France and Spain. Since then, the alliance has expanded to include firms in Germany, Italy, Russia, Singapore, the Netherlands and Scandinavia.