DLA Piper

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DLA Piper's new corporate logo as of 4 September 2006

DLA Piper (known until 5 September 2006 as DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary) is an international association of legal service providers. A common misconception is that it exists as a single law firm, in fact it does not and has a rather complicated organisation but, due to marketing and co-operation agreements between the constituent parts, represents itself as a single firm. The technical description that the organisation uses to describe itself is a global legal services organisation, the members of which are separate and distinct legal entities[1]. On any analysis it is one of the largest legal service providers in the world.

The organisation boasts over 3,200 lawyers in over 24 countries and 59 cities throughout Asia, the U.S., and Europe. Formed as a result of the 2004 merger of Piper Rudnick LLP, Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich LLP, and DLA LLP, recent financial figures, published in The Lawyer, rank the firm second to Clifford Chance in terms of worldwide turnover, at $1.5 billion in revenues for 2005[2].

The organisation is usually referred to in the short form DLA Piper, even prior to the rebrand which took effect on 6 September 2006, and this is now the organisation's official name.

[edit] Management

The firm is managed globally by three joint chief executive officers: Nigel Knowles, Frank Burch and Lee Miller. The three were previously the managing partners of the legacy firms. The Chairman of the firm's Global Board is former US Democratic Senator George Mitchell who is also Chairman of The Walt Disney Company through January 1, 2007 and who chaired the all-party peace negotiations which led to the Belfast Peace Agreement signed on Good Friday 1998 in Northern Ireland.

[edit] Awards

The firm has won many awards, including Global Law Firm of the Year at The Lawyer Awards 2006 in London (beating out Baker & McKenzie, Gide Loyrette Nouel, Latham & Watkins, Linklaters and White & Case), and Law Firm of the Year 2005 at the Legal Business Awards 2005, which said "DLA Piper is leading the legal business community by example"[3].