DLA Piper

Source Wikipedia
Curator Victoria Stuart
Date 2021-04-18
Modified
Editorial practice Refer here
Summary DLA Piper is a multinational law firm with offices in more than 40 countries throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
Key points
  • Multinational law firm with offices in more than 40 countries throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East
  • 2014: total revenues of US$2.48 billion; 3rd largest law firm in the United States, by revenue
Name DLA Piper
Founded First parent firm founded 1764; current organization dates to 2005 (by merger)
Employees ~4200 attorneys
Major practice areas Arbitration | Banking | Competition and Trade | Corporate Crime | Corporate Finance | Employment | Energy | Government Affairs | Hospitality and Leisure | Insurance | Intellectual Property | Litigation | Mergers and Acquisitions | Pensions | Private Equity | Real Estate | Restructuring | Securities | Tax | Technology
Key people
  • Roger Meltzer (global co-chairman)
  • Andrew Darwin global co-chairman
  • Simon Levine (joint CEO)
  • Cameron Jay Rains (joint CEO)
Revenue US$2.48 billion (2014)
Profit per equity partner US$1.490 million (2014)
Company type Swiss Verein
Website DLAPiper.com
Contents

  • This article is a stub [pending additional content ...].

  • Background

    DLA Piper is a multinational law firm with offices in more than 40 countries throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. In 2014, DLA Piper had total revenues of US$2.48 billion and average profit per equity partner of US$1.490 million, and was the third largest law firm in the United States as measured by revenue.

    DLA Piper was formed, in January 2005, by a merger between three law firms: San Diego-based Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich LLP, Baltimore-based Piper Rudnick LLP and United Kingdom-based DLA LLP. DLA Piper is composed of two partnerships, the United Kingdom-based DLA Piper International LLP and the United States-based DLA Piper LLP (US). The two partnerships share a single global board and are structured as a Swiss Verein.


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    Offices

    DLA Piper is a polycentric firm with over 80 offices in more than 40 countries across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Australasia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

    Political contributions

    DLA Piper was the twelfth-largest donor to President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, DLA Piper was one of the top law firms contributing to federal candidates during the 2012 election cycle, donating $2.19 million, 73% to Democrats. By comparison, during that same period Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld donated $2.56 million, 66% to Democrats, while oil conglomerate ExxonMobil donated $2.66 million, 88% to Republicans. Since 1990, DLA Piper has contributed $16.97 million to federal campaigns, and spent over $1 million on lobbying since 2002.

    As of 2014 DLA Piper was the fifth largest donor to potential presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

    Controversy

    In 2010, DLA Piper represented Paul Ceglia in his claim that he hired Mark Zuckerberg to create a website that became Facebook and that under the agreement, Ceglia was entitled to ownership of 84 percent of Facebook, then worth multiple billions of dollars. Zuckerberg and Facebook responded that Ceglia had hired Zuckerberg to work on an unrelated site, but Ceglia had fraudulently altered that contract to make it appear to cover Facebook. A DLA Piper attorney told the Wall Street Journal that although he had not seen the original document, he had "absolutely 100% confidence that Mr. Ceglia's agreement is authentic." Ceglia's document was later, in fact, found to be fraudulent and in 2014, Facebook and Zuckerberg sued DLA Piper and others, claiming Ceglia's lawyers "knew or should have known that the initial lawsuit was a fraud." The suit was later dismissed.

    Notable attorneys, advisors & staff

  • José María Aznar, former Prime Minister of Spain, has been Senior Adviser to DLA Piper's Global Board since 2013

  • James Blanchard, former Governor of Michigan and former U.S. Ambassador to Canada, has been partner since 1996

  • Michael Castle, former Governor of Delaware, has been a partner at DLA Piper since 2011.

  • Saxby Chambliss, former US Senator, has been partner since 2015

  • Bart Chilton, former US Commodity Futures Trading Commissioner, was senior policy adviser from 2014 to 2017

  • Timothy Clement-Jones, Baron Clement-Jones, Liberal Democrat Peer and former spokesman for the Creative Industries in the House of Lords

  • Douglas Emhoff, attorney, Second Gentleman of the United States and spouse of Vice President Kamala Harris

  • Sir Nigel Knowles was managing partner from 1996 to 2015 and global co-chairman from 2015 to 2016.

  • Ray LaHood, former secretary of the Department of Transportation, has been Senior Policy Adviser since 2014

  • Former US Senator George Mitchell was DLA Piper's chairman between 2003 and 2009 As of 2012, he is chairman emeritus.

  • Notable alumni

  • Dick Armey, former U.S. Representative from Texas' 26th congressional district (1985-2003) and House Majority Leader (1995-2003)

  • Rudi M. Brewster, former judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California

  • Peter Bynoe, attorney and businessman who co-owned the Denver Nuggets

  • Tom Daschle, former US Senator and US Senate Majority Leader,; policy adviser at DLA Piper, from December 2009 to October 2014.

  • Steven J. Davis, earth system scientist at the University of California, Irvine

  • Jared Genser, international human rights attorney

  • Miriam González Durántez, partner at DLA Piper, from 2006 to 2011; spouse of former deputy prime minister of the United Kingdom, Nick Clegg

  • A. B. Krongard, former executive director of the Central Intelligence Agency and former chairman and CEO of Alex. Brown & Sons

  • Jonathan Lisle, British D.J.

  • Mel Martinez, partner and lobbyist for DLA Piper, after retiring as a U.S. Senator from Florida, during 2009 to 2010; Florida chairman for J.P. Morgan Chase & Co; co-chair of the Bipartisan Policy Center

  • Harry Cummings McPherson Jr., author, attorney and policymaker who served as counsel and special counsel to President Lyndon B. Johnson, from 1965 to 1969, and as his chief speechwriter, from 1966 to 1969

  • Paul Victor Niemeyer, judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and a former judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland

  • Thomas C. Wheeler, judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims

  • Additional Reading

  • [NPR.org, 2021-04-16] A 'Worst Nightmare' Cyberattack: The Untold Story Of The SolarWinds Hack


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