DLA Piper

DLA Piper (known until 4 September 2006 as DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary) is the third largest law firm in the world by number of attorneys after Clifford Chance and Baker & McKenzie. (Financial figures for 2005 ranked the firm second to Clifford Chance in worldwide turnover with over $1.5 billion in revenue).

DLA Piper is a legal services organisation whose members and affiliates are separate and distinct legal entities. Together, the organization boasts more than 3,200 lawyers in over 24 countries and 63 cities throughout the world.

The firm runs a lobbying arm from London called Global Government Relations.

DLA Piper was formed as a result of the 2005 merger of San Diego-based Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich LLP, London-based DLA LLP (previously Dibb Lupton Alsop), and Piper Rudnick LLP (itself a 1999 merger of Baltimore-based Piper & Marbury and Chicago-based Rudnick & Wolfe).

Refusal to join the Association of Professional Political Consultants

Following a committee inquiry chaired by Labour MP Tony Wright, it emerged that DLA Piper was one of three agencies refusing to join the APPC. Tim Clement-Jones, Liberal Democrat spokesman on culture and sport in the House of Lords, is founder and chairman of the lobbying arm of the firm, Global Government Relations (GGR). This creates - in the eyes of the APPC - a conflict of interests, as members cannot employ sitting peers or MPs. GGR head of media Eben Black, instead of Clement-Jones, was due to appear before the committee.

Lobbying for Turkey

On 10 October 2007, the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs passed Resolution 106, which accuses the Turkish rulers in 1915 of genocide. There was an intensive on behalf of the Turkish government to sway the committee, described by Ali H. Aslan as follows:

Both the Turkish and the US governments strongly opposed the resolution and were joined by DLA Piper, the Livingstone Group, public relations company Fleishman-Hillard and other companies that officially conducted lobbying activities on behalf of Turkey as well as by big corporations that have sizable commercial deals with Turkey such as Boeing and BP.

People

Global

Co-Chairmen

• Tony Angel, United Kingdom. Former managing partner at Linklaters, 1998–2007, executive managing director and head of EMEA at Standard & Poor's, where he was a member of the global operating committee and helped guide the credit rating agency through the intense scrutiny that accompanied the global credit crisis.
• Lee Miller, United States. Former chairman of Rudnick & Wolfe before its merge with Piper & Marbury in 1999.

Joint Co-CEOs

• Sir Nigel Knowles, United Kingdom. Started working at Broomheads as a trainee in 1978 and graduated to managing partner in 1996. Through various mergers, Broomheads became DLA which then merged with Piper Rudnick and Gray Cary in 2005.
• Terence O'Malley, United States. Was chairman and CEO of Gray Cary when it merged with Piper Rudnick and DLA in 2005.

Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific

Co-Managing Directors, Groups and Sectors

• Simon Levine, United Kingdom
• Juan Picón, Spain

Managing Director, Europe and Africa

• Federico Sutti, Italy

Managing Director, Europe and Middle East

• Dr Ulrich Jüngst, Germany

Chief Operating Officer

• Andrew Darwin, Australia

General Counsel, Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific=

• Amber Matthews, United Kingdom

Americas

Co-Chairmen

• Roger Meltzer, United States
• Cameron Jay Rains, United States

Co-Managing Partners

• Michael Poulos, United States
• Stasia Kelly, United States

Chairmen Emeritus

• Francis Burch Jr., United States. Former chairman of Piper & Marbury before its merge with Rudnick & Wolfe in 1999.
• George Mitchell, United States. Chaired the peace negotiations which led to the 1998 Belfast Peace Agreement and former US special envoy for Middle East Peace from January 2009 to May 2011 and US senator 1980-1989.

Chief Operating Officer

• Bob Bratt, United States

General Counsel

• Peter Pantaleo, United States

Former Staff

• Jennifer Dunn. In 2007 it was reported Dunne was to be a member of the Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN)
• Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, former partner. She is married to the UK Coalition's deputy prime minister Nick Clegg. Is now a partner at Dechert.
• Norman Warner, DLA Piper claim his job was involved "deepening client relationships" and "introducing new contacts", whether or not these contacts were government related was raised. Warner claims he advised DLA Piper on "public services, public sector infrastructure and health regulation".

Affiliations

• Defence Manufacturers Association, member
• Nuclear Industry Association -has been a member since at least 2005 when it was DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary
• International Nuclear Services (INS)

• International Financial Services London - DLA Piper UK LLP is a member
• Atlantic Legal Foundation

• Francis B. Burch, Jr. Co-Chairman, DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary US LLP, Baltimore
• Frank H. Menaker Partner DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, Senior VP & General Counsel
• Arthur F. Fergenson Partner, DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary US LLP Baltimore, MD

• Heartland Institute - Paul Fisher - Piper, Marbury, Rudnick & Wolfe
• William Cohen The Cohen Group has a strategic alliance with Piper Rudnick
• European Institute (USA) - DLA, Piper Rudnick Gray Cary LLP
• Bioindustry Association, member
• National Business Coalition on E-Commerce and Privacy - DLA Piper represents this business group that includes companies like Experian, Fidelity Investments, the Investment Company Institute, Charles Schwab & Co., Deere & Co, JPMorgan Chase, General Motors, Vanguard Group, Fiserv, Bank of America and Visa.

See Also

• Global Government Relations
• DLA