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DLA Phillips Fox is no more
DLA Phillips Fox is no more. Global law firm DLA Piper today opens for business in Australia, absorbing the other firm._x000D_
The New Lawyer
DLA Phillips Fox is no more. Global law firm DLA Piper opens for business in Australia today, absorbing the other firm.
DLA Piper's managing director for Asia Pacific, Alastair Da Costa, said clients are seeking full service global mandates and "demanding increasingly seamless international services".
The firm has seen increased demand across the region for cross-border projects, deals, corporate expansions and complex legal transactions, he said.
"There are many opportunities for our lawyers, in the region and globally, to work on international and multijurisdictional legal matters as well as providing valuable insight and experience on local matters and we are well placed to cater for and compete for this global work."
Globally, DLA Piper now comprises 4,200 lawyers operating out of 76 offices in 30 countries. The group also has alliances with firms in an additional 17 countries.
DLA Piper lost a number of partners to otter local firms after the integration. Most recently, nine DLA Phillips Fox partners defected just weeks out from the official commencement of the DLA Piper merger.
The Brisbane partners will join law firm Thomsons Lawyers in Brisbane. The partners included Tony Conaghan in IP and technology, Philip Byrnes and James Daniel in corporate, Ron Eames, Michael Marshall and Chris O'Shea in real estate, Philip Dowling and Eugene Fung in corporate and Andrew Kelley in finance and projects.
The nine Brisbane-based partners voted against the integration with DLA Piper. DLA Phillips Fox said more than 90 per cent of its partners voted in favour of integration, but that a small portion did not want to join a global law firm.
In March this year the firm also lost Iain Rennie to TressCos Lawyers in Sydney.
There will be plenty of lawyers to fill the empty ranks, though. In Asia-Pacific, DLA Piper has more than 700 lawyers operating out of offices located in Bangkok, Beijing, Brisbane, Canberra, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Perth, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo.
Commenting on the firm's integration with DLA Piper, managing partner for Australia, Tony Holland, said: "Our clients are at the centre of everything we do and we are dedicated to supporting them and helping them to do business.
"We believe this is a significant day for the Australian legal market. We are adding real value by offering a comprehensive range of legal services across a truly national and truly international footprint.
"Integration has already enhanced our ability to compete for work in the region. Our new positioning in the market has been welcomed by our clients and is attractive to prospective clients, as demonstrated by our recent appointment to the panel of a major international investment bank."
