The Legal 500

DLA Piper’s UK offices provide a full range of legal services to meet the ongoing needs of clients wherever they do business. It is the fifth largest law firm in the UK and has eight offices in the major commercial centres of Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Sheffield.

The firm: DLA Piper is a global law firm, with over 4,000 lawyers across more than 75 offices in 30 countries in Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and the US. DLA Piper acts for a broad range of businesses, including local, national and multinational companies across all sectors. Lawyers at DLA Piper are committed to working in partnership with clients on all matters affecting their business. To extend its already substantial geographic presence, DLA Piper has an alliance with independent law firms across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Combined, DLA Piper provides integrated, international legal solutions for clients, wherever they choose to do business.

Types of work undertaken: Corporate: DLA Piper is a significant operator in the UK, providing transactional and advisory work in mergers and acquisitions, private equity, capital markets, tax, and investment funds.

Employment, pensions and benefits: a market-leading 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. Its lawyers work on a strategic and operational level on both contentious and non-contentious matters across the private and public sectors.

Finance and projects: includes specialist teams which 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 specialist sector expertise in several areas, including energy, education, health, transport and infrastructure.

Real Estate: this practice combines local expertise with an international perspective to provide high-quality commercial and innovative advice. A full range of legal services is offered, including transactions, planning, construction, litigation and property management. Clients include developers, investors and corporate end users.

Restructuring: the firm has one of the largest restructuring teams in the UK, with over 100 restructuring and insolvency specialists who work as part of one of the largest global restructuring teams of any legal practice. The team regularly advises on high-profile assignments from the mid market up to the largest and most complex national and international restructurings and insolvencies.

Intellectual property and technology: this award-winning practice is made up of specialist 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 some of the world’s leading technology, communications, multinational media and entertainment companies.

Litigation and regulatory: the global litigation and regulatory group comprises over 1,800 contentious lawyers and regulatory specialists. The practice group is dedicated exclusively to regulatory risk and dispute resolution, and includes litigators, arbitrators, criminal defence lawyers and ex-regulators, along with government relations, public policy and media relations advisers, all with specialist expertise.

DLA Piper offers exceptional career opportunities to lawyers, aspiring graduates and business support professionals within an environment that is challenging, rewarding and innovative. For further information, please visit the careers section on the website at: www.dlapiper.com.

Other offices:UK: Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Sheffield Australia: Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney Continental Europe: Amsterdam, Antwerp, Berlin, Bratislava, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Cologne, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Istanbul, Kiev, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Munich, Paris, Prague, Rome, Salzburg, St Petersburg, Tbilisi, Vienna, Warsaw Asia: Bangkok, Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo. Middle East: Abu Dhabi, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait City, Manama, Muscat and Riyadh US: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Cherry Hill, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Northern New Jersey, Northern Virginia, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Raleigh, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Silicon Valley, Tampa, Washington DC, Wilmington

Number of UK partners 310
Number of other UK fee-earners 1,250