DLA Piper’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (Emea) and Asia businesses posted strong revenue growth in the 2008 calendar year, with turnover rising 16.2 per cent on 2007’s figure.
At the end of 2007 the firm’s businesses in Emea and Asia posted a combined revenue of £503m, with that figure rising to £584.9m during 2008.
The Emea and Asia group far outshone the firm’s US practice, which reported a rise of just 3.8 per cent for 2008, up from $1.13bn ;(£790m) ;to $1.17bn (£820m).
Average profit per equity partner (PEP) for Emea and Asia increased marginally, up from £640,000 to £645,000. In the US PEP grew by 6.4 per cent, from $1.21m (£850,000) in 2007 up to $1.29m (£910,000) in 2008.
DLA Piper joint chief executive Nigel Knowles said: “These figures represent a solid performance during what’s been an extremely challenging year. Our performance reflects the benefits of diversity both in terms of geography and practice.”
Knowles added that the firm was adjusting to the economic downturn by ensuring it maintains a healthy balance sheet firmwide.
Last week (16 February) The Lawyer reported that the international firm is making significant layoffs from both its US and UK operations.
Earlier this month DLA Piper announced that it will cut up to 80 associates and 100 support staff in the US (TheLawyer.com, 12 February) just two days after announcing that up to 30 lawyers and 110 support staff were at risk of redundancy in the UK (The Lawyer.com, 10 February).
The firm also completed a redundancy consultation last December that led to the loss of 31 jobs across the UK.
