DLA Piper
No of Partners: 345
No of Assistant Solicitors: 771
www.dlapiper.com
To view the list of current vacancies at DLA Piper, please click here.
By its own admission, DLA Piper likes to be different. It was one of the first UK firms to set up a lobbying arm in Brussels. It was one of the first in the wave of law firms to take on Limited Liability Partnership status and it has already expressed its willingness to float if the Clementi Review creates the right conditions for law firms to become limited companies.
And, DLA Piper also arguably has the most ambitious plans of any firm in Leeds, given its stated aim of becoming one of Europe’s top five firms with a significant presence in Asia.
It follows, then, that the people it looks to recruit are not the average lawyer either. Local recruiters report that DLA Piper are more willing to give candidates with less than perfect academics a go. However, by the same token, there is no room for passengers at DLA Piper - in Leeds or anywhere else for that matter.
“Our sheer will to succeed is very strong in this office” says Neil McLean, DLA Piper’s managing partner in Leeds.
Recent star performers in Leeds have been the technology, media and communications practice (buoyed by its involvement in the £2.3bn national NHS IT procurement project), real estate and business support and restructuring departments. The office also has a strong public sector practice (clients include the NHS, Leeds City Council and the Ministry of Defence), a strong retail client base and roster of blue-chip banking clients including Barclays, HBOS and the Royal Bank of Scotland.
More widely, the firm is considering merging in the US in the medium term. It is continuing to consolidate and build on its European network as well as growing in Asia where it has a presence in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore.
Immediate plans for the future in Leeds are to develop those disciplines with the potential for growth which, McLean says, is practically all of them at present. However, DLA Piper has never been shy of pursuing new opportunities as they arise and, for that matter, discarding areas that no longer fit where necessity dictates.
Its entrepreneurial nature also informs its choice of its recruits. “We are looking for humanity and commerciality” says McLean. “Legal training is very important, but the commitment to the client and understanding the commercial reality is the key rather than getting bogged down in the legal technicalities of the situation.”
“We’re very much a people business. You need the ability to engage on a very normal, personal level. To do the job well, you need to develop a feeling of trust and comfort between the lawyer and the client.”
“You’ve got to be extremely focused on being a firm that people want to use” McLean adds. “You need skilled people with the personal characteristics that make people feel comfortable. Once you’ve achieved that, then you’re as rock solid as it is possible to be.”
To view the list of current vacancies at DLA Piper, please click here.
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