DLA Piper LLP

Global Co-Chairs: Andrew Darwin and Frank W. Ryan
Joint Co-Chief Executive Officers: Simon Levine and Frank W. Ryan
Number of partners: 1,500
Number of lawyers: 5,000
Languages: The firm speaks over 60 languages

Firm Overview:
DLA Piper is a global law firm that provides its clients with legal and business solutions locally, regionally and internationally, using integrated teams of lawyers with experience spanning a broad range of disciplines. DLA Piper is widely recognised for its pioneering approach and extensive geographic reach. Clients include single-owner start-ups, local and household name companies, multinationals, financial institutions, FTSE and Fortune 500 enterprises and their subsidiaries, public bodies and governments.

Main Areas of Practice:

Corporate:
DLA Piper has one of the largest corporate practices in Europe. The team provides transactional and advisory work in mergers and acquisitions, private equity, capital markets, tax and investment funds. It is one of the few practices in this area able to advise seamlessly on corporate activity across multiple jurisdictions.

Employment, Pensions & Benefits:
DLA Piper’s employment, pensions and benefits group is a market-leading global practice with a strong reputation for delivering solutions-based advice and supporting clients in the day-to-day management of their people legal issues and risk. It includes many experienced lawyers working globally on a strategic and operational level on both contentious and noncontentious matters across the private and public sectors. The group advises on all areas of employment, trade union and employee relations, discrimination and diversity management, pensions, employee benefits and reward issues.

Intellectual Property & Technology:
This award-winning practice is made up of dedicated intellectual property, information law, technology and sourcing, commercial, telecoms, media, and sports lawyers, and offers a unique, global, full-service capability. The practice provides both contentious and commercial advice to leading technology, communications, media and financial services organisations, as well as government departments and national regulatory authorities.

Finance & Projects:
The finance and projects group includes dedicated teams that advise on asset-based lending, asset finance, debt capital markets and securitisation, leveraged finance, project finance, real-estate finance, and trade and commodity finance. Lawyers in this practice also advise on loan workouts and refinancings. Across Europe, this team has sector experience in a number of areas, including energy, education, health, transport, and civil and social infrastructure.

Litigation & Regulatory:
DLA Piper has built one of the largest dedicated regulatory groups of any global law firm, and it includes former members of industry and regulatory bodies. The group provides a complete service regarding regulatory risk, practice guidance, lobbying, corporate defence, crisis management and compliance programmes. The firm’s dispute resolution lawyers are skilled in litigation, arbitration and ADR and will advise from the outset the most appropriate method of resolving a dispute. They aim to solve complex business disputes as swiftly and effectively as possible, providing solutions that correspond to the business needs of their clients.

Real Estate:
DLA Piper has approximately 300 real estate lawyers across Europe. By using standardised global infrastructure in each of its offices and, crucially, by having strong internal working relationships, the firm offers a seamless and efficient service that few competitors can match. The geographic footprint of the real estate team gives the firm extensive experience of portfolio management for single asset, multi-asset and crossborder transactions in established and emerging markets.

Restructuring:
DLA Piper’s global restructuring group has dedicated restructuring lawyers across Europe. The teams work seamlessly to deliver innovative commercial restructuring solutions on a national and international basis. The firm’s unrivalled breadth of restructuring experience provides its diverse client base with extensive knowledge of local markets and the associated challenges they may face.

Tax:
The firm provides advice on local and national tax, and a commercially integrated approach to crossborder structures and tax efficiency. It offers the full range of tax services that address the challenges of international commerce and business operations, including arranging operations to reduce effective global tax rates, transfer pricing, tax disputes and post-acquisition integration.